BENGALURU: Commute on city roads at your own risk: This is what it has come down to as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike appears to have thrown up its hands on the persisting challenge of filling up potholes across Bengaluru.
Stopping short of admitting that it was lack of foresight and planning that has made the ride bumpy for Bengalureans, the BBMP engineers are now squarely blaming bad weather conditions and lack of adequate bitumen for their failure to fill the craters on roads across the city.
A BBMP West Zone engineer told TNIE, “When we put the gravel into a pothole, we don’t have enough time to pour the bitumen. By that time it starts raining and everything gets washed away.”
Palike engineers complain about shortage of bitumen
The BBMP officials TNIE spoke to revealed that most of the bitumen is being used by contractors who have been assigned major road works. The city requires around 60 loads of bitumen, but since the Palike engineers do not get sufficient quantities, the roads are left unattended, he added. “Certain parts of Outer Ring Road (ORR) are really bad.
While some portions have been whitetopped, tarring the remaining parts is almost impossible as there has been continuous rain and heavy traffic on the stretch. Each time the wet mix is put, it gets washed away because of rain and lack of adequate bitumen. BWSSB restoration works too are going on, which have further slowed down our repairs,” said a BBMP engineer from East Zone.
The BBMP has now come up with a “Plan B”: Putting up boards, posters and banners — starting with Outer Ring Road, between Horamavu and Hennur — asking motorists to drive carefully as “road works are in progress” and attributing the delays to heavy rains. “Until finances are arranged (for more stocks of bitumen) and the rain recedes, putting up such boards and banners will help,” the engineer said. Many commuters were shocked and amused to see such boards on Monday and Tuesday.
While the boards are now only on Outer Ring Road, BBMP officials said that engineers from other zones too have appreciated the idea as it allows them more time to complete the works. This, despite BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta holding a virtual meeting with chief engineers and engineers of all BBMP zones and directing them to fill potholes at the earliest. Engineers f rom Rajarajeshwari Nagar and West zones too are planning to put up such boards on main roads and parts of highways where filling of potholes is difficult.