Pothole-filling takes a hit as monsoon arrives in Bengaluru

Unexpected showers in recent days has halted the BBMP in its tracks in filling potholes before the onset of the monsoon.

A recent Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) survey has revealed that officials need at least 15 days to fill 10,282 potholes in the city.

“We are not sure if we can fill all of the potholes before the monsoon, given the (inclement) weather condition,” BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Projects) Ravindra P N said.

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The Palike gets down to filling potholes every year before the monsoon’s arrival. “We use at least 50 loads of hot mix in a month during summer. But this April, we hardly used 25 loads due to bad weather. In May, we have so far dispatched 15 to 20 loads of hot mix,” a senior BBMP engineer said.

Senior officials added that it had become difficult to run the plant owing to the rains. “Even if we try to get the mix ready, it may not be up to the mark when the weather is not suitable. Also, the road surface needs to be dry to fill the potholes. Hence, we have not been able to make much progress in filling the potholes,” the official explained.

Officials estimate that they may need over 200 loads of hot mix to fill the potholes identified so far.

“Last year, after the monsoons, we were using nearly 25 loads of hot mix a day owing to a large number of potholes in the city. We can produce up to 40 loads a day,” the official said.

Of the 10,282 potholes, the East zone tops the list with 2,395 potholes, followed by the South Zone, which has recorded 1,436 potholes. The BBMP has also requested the citizens to use the ‘Fix My Street’ mobile application to upload the details of the potholes that need to be filled.