HC to BBMP: Will Bengaluru have a 'Merry Christmas'?

Pointing to the menacing holes and ditches punctuating the city roads, the High Court of Karnataka demanded the BBMP if it would make the forthcoming Christmas happy for Bengaluru by filling the potholes.

Hearing a public interest litigation by Vijayan Menon and three other residents of Koramangala, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari said the city did not have a pothole-free Deepavali as promised by the BBMP, but it can at least have a happy Christmas if the civic body takes concrete action by filling the holes.

The BBMP's counsel responded by saying the civic body would ensure citizens have a happy Christmas by substantially reducing the potholes on the roads.

The counsel also pointed out that the pothole menace has drastically reduced since officials are working round the clock to smooth out the roads.

The bench observed that it has been hearing the petition for the past three months and the BBMP should have done reasonable work in this time period to ensure it had filled the potholes.

The bench said it expected the officials to understand the seriousness of the situation by now, but noticed that they never act without being compelled by the court.

The court asked court commissioner Dinesh Agarwal, superintending engineer, CWE (Army), to attend the coordination committee meeting chaired by the chief secretary and offer his suggestions to address the pothole concern.

It asked the BBMP to substantially reduce potholes in the next 10 days, and adjourned the case to December 12.