Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Namma Metro Yellow Line, connecting RV Road to Bommasandra, a major IT and manufacturing hub in South Bengaluru. Days later, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar opened a new loop from KR Puram towards the city on Hebbal Flyover on the busy airport road, riding his restored 40-year-old Yezdi Roadking.
The expansion of the Metro network and road infrastructure is a welcome move to improve connectivity on those stretches. But on the flip side, roads in most parts of the state capital are in tatters.
By Shivakumar’s own admission on the floor of the State Assembly, pothole-ridden roads are a major concern. So much so, the government, including DyCM, faces flak from every quarter.
In a direct acknowledgement of the situation, the DyCM, who is also the Bengaluru Development Minister, stated that after being asked by the state government, the Police Department provided a list of 10,000 potholes that needed to be filled. Besides that, citizens and MLAs have also provided information about thousands of potholes.
“As of now, we have closed 5,377 potholes and have taken measures to fill another 5,000 of them,” Shivakumar said, explaining the government initiatives to augment infrastructure. Terming pothole-filling as a temporary solution, he advocated for white-topping, a cement concrete overlay on an
existing bituminous pavement of the roads as a permanent solution. As per the current estimate, white-topping of roads in Bengaluru requires an investment of around Rs 9,200 crore, and another Rs 694 crore for black-topping of arterial and sub-arterial roads.
It is good that the State Government has taken note of the situation and is working on temporary as well as long-term solutions to fix roads. However, hasty work without ensuring quality hardly serves the purpose, except for wasting taxpayers’ money. Unfortunately, that seems to be the pattern as potholes resurface.
On May 22 last year, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after his city rounds, had directed the officials to fill up 5,500 potholes on ward roads and 557 potholes on arterial roads, within a month. Perhaps, such directions were issued on many occasions by elected representatives and officials.
Potholes that pose danger to motorists, especially two-wheelers, slow down traffic movement and drain the exchequer, have also been a subject of political debate. In December 2022, DK Shivakumar had slammed the BJP government over potholes. “People don’t understand that the potholes on roads across Karnataka are actually part of the BJP’s UP model of development.
They themselves say they want to turn Karnataka into UP, and you can see that in the potholes,” the Congress leader had tweeted with a video of a road cave-in in Lucknow. Now, the Congress Government is accused of not allocating sufficient funds for infrastructure development.
If this is the situation of roads in the state capital, it would be no better in other cities and towns in the state. Though it is not a phenomenon that is unique to Karnataka, the powers that be need to reflect on the reasons for the poor quality of roads. Isn’t it the abject failure of city governance?
Admitting reality is one thing – like the DyCM did on the floor of the state Assembly – but it is equally important to look at the reasons and fix accountability. Who is responsible for the shoddy work? Politicians? Officials? Contractors? Or all of them?
D Prasad, urban infrastructure expert and member of the Indian Road Congress, says there are several factors for potholes, and the main cause is a lack of a proper road surface that should be impermeable. The top layer should have a proper percentage of bitumen, gradation and surfacing so the water flows out quickly, he says.
“We have good technology and knowledge, but implementation is the key. Tender documents for road works will have all the specifications, but who is following them,” asks Prasad.
It all boils down to the quality of work and the monitoring mechanism.
Fixing accountability on the contractors, engineers, and officials responsible for supervising the works will go a long way in providing the much-needed relief for people.