BENGALURU: After a video uploaded on X by Canadian expatriate Caleb Friesen, showing the condition of footpaths on 12th Main Road in Indiranagar, became viral on social media the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) took cognisance of the issue.
Most of the damaged stretches of footpath highlighted by Friesen were repaired by GBA workers, with the authority publicly sharing a response video of the work conducted. “In any other country, a footpath like this would be unacceptable.
Bengaluru is one of the tech capitals of the country and where many startups and venture capital firms are located, has footpaths like this,” he says in the video, while taking a walk down the road and pointing at broken or unusable footpath sections, which he deems to be “pathetic”.
Friesen points out various other impediments caused by damage, including a portion that he likens to a crater caused by an asteroid collision, in which he notices trash thrown by people like it is an “impromptu dustbin”.
Friesen called the stretch a product of “bureaucratic inefficiency”; the GBA posted a video containing before-and-after glimpses of the stretch, with multiple GBA workers appearing and deeming the stretch “fixed”.
On Sunday, Friesen uploaded a video acknowledging the GBA’s work, adding that the fixes were but temporary, before the 12th Main Road is revamped by the GBA in early 2027.
