City's MNCs add pothole filling to their list of CSR activities

Following the BBMP's complacent attitude in filling up potholes, several multinationals have decided to address the problem themselves.

The companies would include pothole filling as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity. The fact that a few of their employees had injured themselves riding into potholes while commuting to work has prompted these companies to stop waiting for the BBMP and get straight into action.

What has perhaps irked these companies is the complete lack of action by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which left nearly 10,000 potholes in the city unattended,   despite protests by citizens and warnings by ministers.

The companies have contacted 'Pothole Raja' Prathap Bhimasena Rao, whose chief claim to fame is smoothing out roads punctuated with holes of all shapes and sizes.

A  few deaths have occurred due to potholes and the situation was steadily getting worse by the day. "That's why our management decided to include pothole filling as part of our CSR activity," said Sanjay, chief technology officer, Qwikcilver.

"When we heard about the campaign by Pothole Raja to fix the roads, we thought we'd give it a try and let him fix the roads passing through our premises," he said.  

When Pothole Raja and his team levelled out a stretch of road connecting the Qwikcilver office near Koramangala, the employees joined the volunteers.  Soon, other IT parks and MNCs such as Electronics City, Biocon, ITPL, Kalyani Magnum and others followed and filled nearly 500 holes.

"Filling a pothole of one square per metre with a 500 mm depth would cost Rs 2,500," Rao said. "Since some of the potholes are deadly, we expect citizen bodies to sponsor and join the campaign to fill a few of those holes around their locality."

Rao would also ask government agencies, notorious for digging up the roads to lay pipes and failing to put them back, to do their bit in pothole elimination.