Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar undertook a tour of the city on Wednesday ahead of the monsoons and directed the authorities concerned to ensure preventive measures ahead of the rainy season to avoid any untoward incidents.
Addressing the media afterwards, Siddaramaiah said that the monsoon rains are likely to start from June.
The tour came based on the reports that more rains are expected and may cause floods, and officials were given directions, including to fill up 5,500 potholes on the roads across the city and 557 potholes on the arterial roads and sub-arterial roads within a month.
Permission for the rounds was taken from the Election Commission, Siddaramaiah said, adding that engineers will be held accountable if water-logging is reported and water enters houses in the rainy season.
Directions have also been issued to clear the stormwater drains and take action against encroachments, he said.
Shivakumar said that no compensation would be given to those who encroached on the stormwater drains. He clarified that Rs 1,800 crore has been reserved for clearing encroachments, construction of stormwater drains, and creation of the necessary infrastructure in private layouts.
Answering a question on phone tapping, Siddaramaiah stated that in his entire political career, he had not indulged in this practice and he would never indulge in it in the future as well. He accused JD-S leader and former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy of issuing such statements to cover up the sex scandal involving his nephew and party MP Prajwal Revanna.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka dubbed the city round as a photo shoot for the Chief Minister and his deputy.
“There is no use in travelling across the city in an AC bus and posing before the media now,” he said.
“The city rounds should have been taken up well before the start of the rainy season. It should have been done a month ago. The zone-wise meetings should have been held and directions should have been issued regarding precautionary measures. Later, they should have ensured that steps were taken. Instead, city rounds are taken up when rains have started and everything is already a mess,” he added.
–IANS