Bengaluru: Responding to criticism of crumbling public infrastructure in his constituency, a Congress legislator in Karnataka has, in turn, demanded that industry captains should divert their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for such development works instead of complaining about the poor quality of roads.
B. Shivanna, the Congress legislator from Anekal, a town on the outskirts of Bengaluru housing one of the city’s biggest industrial clusters, said that corporations make crores but aren’t willing to fund road repairs and other works.
“They make thousands of crores. Ask them to give us some to repair roads and undertake other developmental projects in these localities,” Shivanna told ThePrint Monday.
His remarks were in response to Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw’s post on X criticising the MLA for using funds “for other things” and not fixing the crumbling roads in his constituency. “@MLAShivanna has been informed of this neglect for years but he does not have the resources to provide decent infrastructure as it has been used for other things that have not benefited citizens,” Shaw said in a post on X.
@MLAShivanna has been informed of this neglect for years but he does not have the resources to provide decent infrastructure as it has been used for other things that have not benefited citizens. https://t.co/qLYO2EyV4x
— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) August 24, 2026
She was reacting to posts from residents about the poor condition of roads in the locality.
“Everyday thousands of cars and school buses and even BMTC MF buses are also travelling in this. This is very dangerous & Fatal. Please take action immediately,” read one of the posts.
@GBA_office @krishnabgowda @CMofKarnataka this is current situation of Doddamara – Choodasandra Road. Everyday thousands of cars and school buses and even BMTC MF buses are also travelling in this.This is very dangerous & Fatal Please take action immediately. pic.twitter.com/AL6hSrn2Qy
— Prakashvel M (@_iam_prakash_) August 23, 2026
Intermittent rains in Bengaluru have exposed the faultlines in India’s IT capital, where potholes, crumbling infrastructure, and civic apathy have become the norm.
Despite assurances from the D.K. Shivakumar-led Congress government, the state of roads and other infrastructure remains largely unchanged.
Shaw’s post comes barely a week after a 32-year-old woman was run over by a commercial vehicle after she lost control of her two-wheeler while trying to avoid a pothole in Bengaluru’s Hebbagodi, about 12 km from Doddamara Road, which falls under Anekal.
The incident sparked protests from residents who accused the authorities of turning a blind eye to the poor condition of roads.
Residents in Ananthnagar, around the Hebbagodi locality, said that authorities had dug up the road to lay pipelines and filled it up without asphalting the road, resulting in deep craters on the street.
Shivanna said that he had approached Shaw multiple times to request CSR funds, but to no avail. “We don’t know where they spend their CSR funds—for lakes, desilting—but will not give us money to help improve road conditions,” he said.
When asked why the legislator was dependent on CSR funds and not money from the government, he said that these were recurring problems requiring significant allocations.
“We are getting money (from the government), but how much can we get? We asphalt roads, and with rain, it gets eroded, and the problems resurface,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Niyati Kothiyal)
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Shameful on the part of MLA to be questioning desilting of lakes . Isn’t he aware of the increasing water scarcity in the city ? Or does that action prove hindrance to tanker mafia which nobody seems to be speaking about. There are hundreds of other companies in the area. Why is he after Ms Shaw ? Just because she keeps exposing them ?