The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) to form teams to inspect the condition of the roads in Bengaluru. The KSLSA has been directed to submit a report by February 5.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka was hearing a PIL filed in 2015 on bad roads in the city.
A report by the teams would help in deciding the correctness of the compliance report filed by the BBMP, it said.
The bench directed the secretary of KSLSA to set up a team of paralegal volunteers and advocates in coordination with the secretary of the Bengaluru Urban District Legal Services Authority. The teams will identify public roads in different parts of the city under the BBMP's jurisdiction.
Members who are willing to do pro bono work shall be requested by the secretaries of the legal services authority to visit the designated public streets with a view to ascertain its present condition, the court said.
“It will be appropriate if the secretary of the legal services authority invites the petitioners and the counsel for a meeting and decide which public street should be inspected. The volunteers or advocates nominated by the secretaries shall act as commissioners of this court."
The petitioners have sought a direction to the BBMP to submit an action-taken report on killer potholes and provide a mechanism to enable citizens to file complaints about the poor condition of the roads.
The court on Thursday recalled its July 31, 2019 order, by which the right to have good roads is guaranteed under the Constitution.
Published 17 December 2020, 20:22 IST