Bengaluru civic body under fire after plants bud in newly asphalted road in Varthur

Bengaluru's local administrative body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has come on the radar of the irked citizens once again after plants have grown out of a newly asphalted road in the city's Varthur area.

A newly tarred road, for which the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) spent ₹24 crores, saw plants sprouting from it days later, prompting Varthur residents to point at the local administrative body once again for shoddy work.

Plant growing out of asphalt. (Dreamstime Image/for Representation)

According to reports, the Idgah main road in Mahadevapura zone was laid ten days ago but residents alleged that soil under it was not cleared before asphalting work was undertaken. This is the reason why seeds have germinated with small plants sprouting from the tar days later, with ants buildings anthills in cracks of the road left by the BBMP engineers.

The issue emerged on social media by resident welfare organisations such as Varthur Rising, who shared pictures of citizens measuring the thickness of the bitumen used for tarring roads, which was less than one inch. Residents reportedly sent multiple complaints to the BBMP regarding the issue but in vain.

The News Minute reported that Varthur ward engineer Venkatesh visited the problematic spots and instructed contractors to make patch works.

Read: Three engineers get civic body notice over shoddy road work