![\"Bengaluru](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2022-10\/d2hmhivo_bengaluru-road-cave-in_625x300_10_October_22.jpg\"\/ "\\"Bengaluru")
<\/div>\nDamage at the Kundanahalli underpass service road in Bengaluru.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bengaluru: <\/b><\/p>\n
A service road built as part of a Rs 19.5-crore underpass in Bengaluru caved in on Sunday \u2014 just four months after inauguration \u2014 giving new grounds to the Congress to allege corruption in the BJP’s Karnataka government.<\/p>\n
Repair was underway at the Kundanahalli underpass that connects the eastern suburbs to other parts of the IT hub. Officials did not speak on record, but an Executive Engineer working on the civic body’s Signal Free Corridor project, of which this road is a part,\u00a0told NDTV: “The cave-in happened because a pipe under it broke and water seeped in over the last few days. That’s why the soil was loose.”<\/p>\n
The pipeline has been repaired by the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board, which is responsible for underground utilities.\u00a0The breakdown impacted Cauvery river water supply in some areas for up to 24 hours, said reports.<\/p>\n
But fixing the road cave-in would take a few more days. The contractor will have to do it free of cost as the underpass is covered under the Annual Maintenance and\u00a0Defect Liability clause, said\u00a0officials in the civic body, Bruhat\u00a0Bengaluru\u00a0Mahanagara Palike.<\/p>\n
Congress leader Nagaraj Yadav said this is another instance of “40 per cent” corruption, a reference to alleged cut taken by the government in contracts. The government has dismissed such charges as baseless political vendetta.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Yadav, a member of the Legislative Council, demanded that a\u00a0criminal case be filed against the contractors and government officials. “There’s a reason why we have been\u00a0demanding a dedicated minister for the city. Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) is himself the Bengaluru minister in-charge, and he has failed to keep up with his responsibilities.”<\/p>\n
He also questioned the contractors’ association: “Where is\u00a0the quality of work? And then they will come out saying ‘we cannot do quality work because of corruption’.”\u00a0The contractors have not yet responded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n