BENGALURU: Although the High Court directed the State Government and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to rid the city of potholes last year, nothing happened. Neither did the campaign ‘Report a pothole, get it fixed immediately’ help. Potholes remain, and are likely to be a perennial feature on Bengaluru’s roads for motorists to avoid.
Experts say the reasons for the recurring potholes include poor engineering, shoddy work and corruption. As these are almost constant symptoms, potholes have become a perennial menace in Bengaluru.
Urban expert V Ravichander said poor road geometry, stagnant water and an unscientific approach are reasons for this persistent issue. “A pothole is defined by size — only if it's one metre by one metre and six inches deep, it is considered a pothole. So most of the damage seen on roads are not considered as they are just referred to as ‘uneven roads’ by authorities. There are lakhs of craters that need to be fixed. They reduce the speed of vehicles. Since water cannot mix with asphalt, small puddles are formed, which give way to potholes when it rains,” he says.
Dr Ashish Verma, associate professor, Transportation Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), said reasons for this ‘unfortunate issue the city faces every year’ include poor engineering and shoddy work. “The city’s roads are mostly bituminous (black-topped). The properties of bitumen are such that it binds all the materials in the road mix. But during the monsoon, when water settles on the roads and remains in contact with the bitumen, the binding properties are weakened, and this leads to formation of potholes. Due to absence of cross slopes and storm water drains, the water doesn't get drained out,” he explains.
Professor MN Sreehari doesn't believe in the numbers given by the authorities. “Corruption is the major reason behind potholes, and that is why quality of work suffers. Potholes are usually filled with mud, when they should ideally be filled with coarse aggregates including jelly, sand and bitumen. They then have to be tamped down and sealed so that water doesn't leak out,” he says.
BBMP DEFENDS
But the BBMP says that all standard procedures are being followed, and that fixing potholes is routine work for them.
According to BBMP, the total number of potholes identified this year till August 28 is 22,662. “A total of 21,043 potholes have been fixed, with 1,619 left to be filled. Most of the potholes are found in the south zone, Yelahanka and on major roads in the city. Desilting work has been taken up in different zones so that there is no water logging,” says an assistant executive engineer with the BBMP. But another official from the Road Infrastructure Department says that potholes are mostly in areas where the utility agencies, such as Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), do repair works, as they do not fix the road once they are done. When asked why there are potholes on major roads, he says, “There are only 296 potholes, not 7,000. Compared to last year, there are very few this year.”
Madhu Kumar, assistant to engineer-in-chief MR Venkatesh, says all standard procedures are being followed. “Fixing potholes is routine work for us. All zonal chief engineers inspect the work, and then action is taken. Contractors are fixing roads as per the tender agreement,” he says. And yet potholes persist…