Bengaluru-Mysuru highway flooding angers PMO

New Delhi: The Prime Ministers’ Office (PMO) has directed the Ministry of Road & Surface Transport to ensure that there is no waterlogging on the roads, highways, etc. The directive has come in the wake of the flooding of the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway in Karnataka, official sources told Bizz Buzz, adding that this has caused considerable embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A few days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. On the night of March 18-19, there was a heavy rainfall, which led to the inundation of the highway.

The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a clarification, which held a blocked drain responsible for the mess. It said that the local villagers choked the drain path near the Ramanagara stretch, which resulted in the waterlogging.

The explanation, however, didn’t cut any ice with the PMO.

The Bengaluru-Mysuru highway was among the several projects that PM Modi inaugurated last week in the poll-bound Karnataka. What was supposed to help the BJP, but it became an embarrassment for the saffron party in the southern State. Congress leaders are bombarding social media with the pictures of the flooded Bengaluru-Mysuru highway.

The PMO is unhappy with the Ministry of Road & Surface Transport for the latter’s insistence on the inauguration of projects without completion.

Worse, this is not the first time a road project has suffered flooding. Earlier Delhi’s Pragati Maidan tunnels were inundated during rains. The tunnels still have to be closed during rains. The harassed commuters send messages to the PM, tagging photographs.

The PMO has asked the Ministry of Road & Surface Transport to immediately find the reasons for flooding on the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway and take corrective steps.

Officials in the Ministry said that efforts will be taken to ensure that such incidents do not take place in future. Long-term measures are being taken in this regard. “Beside completing the RCC drain on service road, earthen shoulders till the edge of the RCC drain will be paved for proper drainage,” the officials added.