Is BESCOM's smooth-road plan borne by taxpayers?

Blamed for adding to sad condition of roads, BESCOM plans to earmark around Rs 10 crore annually to restore roads it damages; consumers of utility will bear cost

Blamed for adding to sad condition of roads, BESCOM plans to earmark around Rs 10 crore annually to restore roads it damages; consumers of utility will bear cost

Tired over being blamed for contributing to the pathetic condition of city roads, now the BESCOM has a plan to deal with the matter. The plan, however, entails allocation of an appropriate sum for road repairs in their annual budget, but the catch is that the common man will have to bear the brunt.


Bleeding coffer? BESCOM officials revealed that the extra cost would
eventually be passed on to the public and would later in the year
become part of the annual tariff revision proposal. Representation pic

Each time BBMP takes up roadwork, either the BWSSB or the BESCOM digs up the road to lay pipes and cables - in all this the common man ends up as the ultimate victim. BESCOM plans to take up road restoration on its own and not wait for the BBMP to do the needful.

"We have been avoiding taking up road restoration work as it entails a huge expense. For restoring and relaying a standard 6x6 road after it has been dug up, we plan to earmark approximately Rs 10 crore annually. However, the full cost estimate is being worked on and will be submitted to the government for approval," explained P Mannivannan, MD of BESCOM. He further added that the road relaying work would be awarded to private contractors.

Consumers pay
While the effort is commendable, BESCOM officials later revealed that the extra cost would eventually be passed on to the public and would later in the year become part of the annual tariff revision proposal.
"There is no other option and the expenditure will have to be passed on to the BESCOM consumers," said Mannivannan.

However, the BWSSB is yet to follow suit and claims that other tasks at hand currently are many. "We pay for the road cutting costs and part of the road restoration costs to the BBMP and we can't be expected to re-lay roads as we have extensive work to finish," said T Venkataraju, BWSSB engineer-in-chief. Bangalore Metro on the other hand has accepted to take up restoration work on roads, which fall directly under their stations, while BBMP has to restore other parts.