White Topping Of Bengaluru Roads: IISc Professor Slams Project, Questions Why Karnataka Government Took It Up

Dr Ashish Verma, an Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) who deals with transportation and systems engineering has called the Karnataka government’s white-topping project as “ill-conceived”. The project is estimated to cost the exchequer Rs 986.64-crore.

He argued that if the existing roads are not removed, then adding concrete layers is not feasible at all. In this way, the height of the road will rise and the drains will be disturbed. Another issue he pointed out was overseeing of the underground utilities that cross the road.

Since there are no provisions for underground utility ducts, there are existing construction-level defects, Deccan Herald reported.

Furthermore, the concrete road stretch between Sadashivnagar Police Station and Mehkri Circle has been build only around 50 per cent. This shows the difference in levels of the road.

On top of a concrete road, a bituminous blacktopping has been done. This gives rise to a slant which can be very dangerous to motorists riding two-wheelers in the city.

With rains picking up the pace, the risks are escalated furthermore, making the roads slippery. Additionally, no warning signs are put up as well. The motorists ignore them too, more often than not, claimed the report.