Bengaluru: The BBMP-organized Namma Road workshop, which ignored Kannada and gave priority to English, and the erroneous Kannada lines used here and there, have caused intense anger among Kannada fans.

A lot of information about Bengaluru’s roads was displayed in the Namma Road workshop, organized by the BBMP’s engineering department in collaboration with private organizations. Almost all the information displayed was in English. Kannada lines were written here and there just for the sake of it.

The difficulties faced by the public on the city’s roads and the feelings they express were displayed along with a picture. In it, a citizen stuck in traffic jam had written a line that should have been translated as ‘If we go to the metro station quickly, it will be enough’, but the BBMP had written it as ‘Metro station should quickly go, it will be enough’.

A woman crossing a road with a small child, the BBMP, instead of writing a line that should have said ‘The government should make the roads which is easy to cross’, had written ‘To easily cross the road the government should work’. There are many similar errors. Kannada fans have alleged that the lines, spelling, sentence structure, and accents translated from English to Kannada were filled with errors.

The public is questioning how BBMP officials, who have made a rule that the nameplates installed in the city should follow a 60:40 Kannada-other language ratio, can make such a mistake. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has taken a strong dig at the head of the BBMP engineering department, B S Prahlad, who took full responsibility for the program, and has warned him to rectify it immediately.

There was also an incident where Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, who witnessed the incorrect use of Kannada, left the hall in shame without responding to the media. Speaking later, Tushar Girinath told the media that action would be taken against the concerned officer. The mistakes would be corrected.