DyCM begins tracking city's pothole issue closely

A week since citizens were called to report about potholes, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara claims the BBMP has filled 4,944 out of the 7,537 potholes reported across the city.

Parameshwara, also the Bengaluru Development Minister, posted a message on his Twitter handle on Sunday claiming that potholes were repaired. “The rapid progress of work illustrates the dedication of our BBMP team,” the deputy chief minister commended the BBMP personnel.

On June 15, Parameshwara had put out the Twitter alert to citizens about how to report about potholes— like the phone number, WhatsApp number and online website details to send the complaints on.

According to the BBMP information technology (IT) control room officials who deal with pothole-related complaints, the Palike received 202 complaints through phone calls, 342 through the Sahaaya app, 101 complaints by WhatsApp and 343 complaints through the online portal of Sahaaya website from June 15 till 24.

“Once we receive the complaints through these platforms, we assign the complaints to the zone and ward level engineers. They then resolve the issue and close the complaint,” said an official from the BBMP IT Cell.

Meanwhile, when asked about the number of complaints resolved till now, IT department officials were clueless.

Since Parameshwara took charge as the city development minister, he has been tracking the pothole issues very closely and the authorities concerned are also following his direction.

Last year, the pothole issue in the city made headlines across the country when it even claimed some lives.

Speaking to DH, Mayor R Sampath Raj said: “Last year, there were a large number of potholes in the city due to the heavy rain and flood, but this year, with lower rain, potholes are also fewer. After the last's year issues, we have taken pothole-related issues very seriously and are taking precautionary measures."