BENGALURU: If the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is to be believed, there is no need to worry anymore about breaking your back while riding on bad roads. Believe it or not, the city’s civic corporation claims to have filled all the potholes in the city.
According to BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar, the corporation will now take up works on all inner roads in the city and the engineers have been given orders accordingly.
“We have not set a deadline as of now but we will fill up all the potholes in the city,” Kumar told The New Sunday Express.
Kumar said that as on November 8, there were 740 potholes yet to be filled, out of 10,656 in the city. The city has 14,000km of roads, of which 1,400km are major roads.
The civic engineers, just like the solid waste management team, will have to report to work at 6am following the new order. The engineers have been asked to inspect the condition of the roads - if medians are well maintained, check for potholes and if debris is cleared from the road sides. Since there is little or no traffic during early morning hours, the engineers can go on rounds in their jurisdiction.
However, not all citizens agree with the BBMP about all potholes being taken care of in the city.
“It is humanly impossible,” said Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, a citizen group. “Bannerghatta roads have hundreds of potholes. Road maintenance must be completely handed over to ward committees to manage locally,” he said. He, however, added that road work is being done in several areas.
Fathima Kareem, a resident of Magadi Road, said, “We have informed zonal commissioner V Anbu Kumar about the potholes on Magadi Road, which is a state highway. Unfortunately, no action has been taken so far. It is preposterous for BBMP to make such a claim.”
Rajkumar Dugar, a resident of Vasanth Nagar, said, “The day the BBMP’s claim becomes true will be a historic day for Bengaluru.”
“With the BBMP and its corporators in command, even the High Court will be taken for a bumpy ride. There are enough potholes to be seen all over the city,” said Venkataraman Purushotham, a resident of Ulsoor.