Act on potholes or lose mandate, HC tells BBMP

The High Court of Karnataka has said that the BBMP will be declared a failure, and its responsibility will be handed over to another agency if it fails to act on making the city pothole-free.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, while hearing a petition on potholes, asked the BBMP to clear all the zones of potholes starting with Mahadevapura. The area is the worst pothole-affected zone, according to the BBMP.

The court further stated that it wants Mahadevapura to be free of potholes by December 17, failing which it will pass orders.

The court said that six months had passed, but the BBMP still has not made any substantial improvement. “If the BBMP really wanted, it could have transformed Bengaluru,” the court said. The court further added that if the civic body does not make any improvement to the city by Christmas, then it will have to face the consequences.

The court also observed that the BBMP has created a nightmare for Bengalureans. The BBMP has created a problem for itself, and the city, the court said.

According to the court, BBMP engineers feel that they are not answerable and are wasting the court’s time; this will come at a heavy cost for the BBMP.

On being asked whether the pothole sites are being inspected and the measurement books are evaluated and signed, the Mahadevpura zone chief engineer told the court that he has seen the measurement books, but, has not evaluated or signed them. He would only certify the pothole-filling work on the basis of the assurances given by the BBMP engineers at the respective sites.

The court expressed surprise when the chief engineer said that they have not been able to attend to the potholes as they are busy repairing leakages on a daily basis.

The court then asked the Mahadevpura zone chief engineer to visit the pothole-filling sites, inspect them, evaluate the measurement books alongside the work done, and certify them. Thereafter, he should produce the certified measurement books before the court for the next scheduled hearing.

The court adjourned the hearing of the case until December 17.