BENGALURU: BBMP Engineer-in-Chief S Prabhakar on Thursday tendered an unconditional apology before the Karnataka High Court for not appearing in person with regard to orders passed by the court over filling up of potholes, and filed an affidavit stating that he will be more careful and comply with all orders sincerely in future.
In the affidavit filed before the division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Suraj Govindaraj, Prabhakar stated that an agency which earlier provided advanced technology of hot mix to fill up potholes on a stretch of 182.38km, has been engaged for six months, and work had started on February 14. The affidavit stated that BBMP said the short-term tender has been issued, and will be opened in the first week of March.
Recording this, the court observed that the concern of petitioners and the public at large is that proper technology should be used in filling up potholes and also road repairs, so that deaths in motor vehicle accidents caused due to potholes should not recur. The court on Tuesday issued a bailable warrant against Prabhakar for not appearing in person, and directed the City Police Commissioner to execute the warrant.
When he presented himself, the court said it had called the Engineer-in-Chief to solve the problem of potholes in the city, as engineers are creating problems. “You (Engineer-in-Chief) don’t go by the suggestions of engineers who don’t want to be solve the problem of potholes, therefore apply your mind independently and personally look into the matter to ensure that potholes are filled properly,” the court told him.