Driving through some of the core roads of Bangalore easily reminds one of the false promise of BBMP, which had stated that the city will be free from potholes by July 30.
Not among those to give up easily, the BBMP has now come up with a project to fill the potholes in 100 wards of Bangalore; Basavanagudi, Jayanagar, Malleswaram and Majestic being in the radar.
It is also rumoured that BBMP had set a deadline of 30 days for this activity.
According to the officials, close to 30,000 pothole-riddled roads have been identified in the city.
The irony is that the basic infrastructure to start the project has not been sanctioned by the commissioner yet! When City Express contacted B T Ramesh, engineering chief, BBMP, he said, “We are still in the initial process of analysing the condition of the roads.
The basic infrastructure to start the project needs `1 crore which is yet to be sanctioned by the commissioner.
Once the approval for the project is given, we are planning to start the work.
” T o t h i s B B M P Commissioner Rajneesh Goel said, “The pothole filling work has already been undertaken in some parts of the city.
The BBMP is in coordination with KEONICS in developing an Android-based mobile application to enable reporting of potholes.
A meeting will be held with the chief engineers to decide further details about filling up the potholes after which the sanctioning will take place.
” Ramesh also states, “The proposal for hiring the pothole machine from a private organisation is still pending.
The private firm has guaranteed just one year durability but the commissioner demanded three years.
If the proposal is approved with the term period of three years, then BBMP is planning to pay ` 4 crore per annum for the maintenance of the roads.
But nothing has been decided currently.
” The fund for the machine is still to be approved by the commissioner, yet the officials promise to take up the work shortly.
On being asked as to why such initiatives are undertaken during the monsoon season, Somashekar, chief engineer, road infrastructure, BBMP said, “We are using coal tar to fill the potholes.
Such initiative is carried out every year by the BBMP to ensure smooth flow of traffic and convenience to the public.
It is very obvious that in monsoon, formation of potholes is more in number than compared to summer and winter.
” Goel clearly ruled out any deadline of 30 days.