As deadline to fill potholes nears, new ones give BBMP the jitters

Even as the deadline set by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to fill the potholes is coming to an end, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) officials are still unsure of the number of potholes in the city.

However, they have upped the efforts to fill as many potholes as possible before the deadline ends. According to Mayor R Sampath Raj, the BBMP engineering wing had identified 16,000 potholes in the city as on October 8. But, it later stated that there are around 30,000 potholes in the city. However, at a meeting chaired by BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad on Sunday, the officials pointed out that there are 19,725 potholes in the city.

At the meeting, the engineers submitted a report that of the 19,725 potholes, 3,116 are new. The report also states that 17,787 potholes have already been filled.

“The list of new potholes includes the ones which have resurfaced and the those which we have newly identified. Some of these potholes have also been identified by people,” said a BBMP engineer who did not want to be named.

But, citizens say that the BBMP is yet to fill many potholes on main roads and attend to almost all the potholes on bylanes.

They say that many potholes in Nagarabhavi, Magadi Road, Infantry Road, Shivajinagar, CMH Road, KH Road, Jayanagar, Koramanagala, Bannerghatta Road and Mysuru Road have not been fixed.

‘75% filled’

“Though the deadline fixed by the chief minister ends on October 25, we set a two-week deadline to the staff, which ends on October 23. According to the engineering wing, 75% of the potholes have been filled,” Sampath Raj told DH.

On October 9, Siddaramaiah had directed the BBMP to fill all the potholes within 15 days or face stern action. He had set this deadline after many road users suffered injuries and some even died in accidents caused by potholes.

“We have been getting many calls and messages from people listing out the locations where there are potholes. People are also suggesting that all roads be concretised as done under TenderSure so that there are no potholes.

“But, cost is the issue. If asphalting a road costs around Rs two crore a km, under TenderSure the cost is three times more.

“Talks are on how to concretise all roads at a lesser cost,” the mayor said.

DH News Service