Residents of Bengaluru are raising serious concerns over the poor quality of road resurfacing work being carried out across the city. Despite ongoing asphalt-laying projects, a combination of substandard execution and a glaring lack of coordination between civic departments has left many road surfaces incomplete, damaged, or already deteriorating.
Shoddy Workmanship Leaves Roads in Shambles
A recent incident in Garvebhavipalya, under the Bengaluru South City Corporation's Bommanahalli zone, has become a symbol of the problem. The road was asphalted without first removing cars parked along its sides, resulting in untarred patches exactly where the vehicles were stationed. Residents reported that the asphalt laid on the rest of the road was of such poor quality that it could be pulled off by hand.
Locals alleged that contractors did not use rollers sufficiently to compact the newly laid tar, causing the edges to come loose. "We do not know who the contractor is. The road was laid overnight without using jelly stones or tar spray," a resident pointed out, highlighting the complete lack of due process and oversight.
Social Media Pressure Forces Action
This is not an isolated case. Earlier in December, a photograph of a road that was asphalted around a parked towing vehicle went viral, forcing the South Corporation to clear the vehicles and complete the job. Residents took to social media platform X to note that the corrective action was taken solely because the image gained public attention.
A similar event occurred in Koramangala on December 10, where a photo of a parked car sitting on a freshly tarred road, with an obvious untarred patch beneath it, went viral. The corporation completed the work only after the public shaming on social media.
Lack of Coordination Wastes Public Money
Beyond the terrible work quality, citizens are furious about the absolute lack of coordination between different civic utility departments. In a stark example, a resident tagged the corporation on X, posting photos of a stretch of Sir M Vishweshwaraiah Road in JP Nagar that was dug up on one side shortly after being repaired.
"The road was asphalted two weeks back and was dug up today by another department. Do you guys feel no shame or moral guilt in wasting public money like this?" the resident posted. This repeated cycle of digging up newly laid roads points to a systemic failure in planning and communication, leading to a colossal waste of taxpayer funds.
The situation paints a grim picture of infrastructure management in India's tech capital, where residents are forced to rely on viral social media posts to get basic civic work done properly. The consistent reports of loose asphalt, incomplete work around parked vehicles, and uncoordinated digging underscore a deep-seated issue of accountability and quality control in Bengaluru's civic projects.
