Residents of Bharathinagar, near Cox Town in central Bengaluru, staged a unique protest on Tuesday morning to highlight the poor condition of roads in their locality.
They got two priests to perform puja to potholes, hoping to shame the civic body into asphalting the roads that have been endangering vehicle users.
Residents specifically complained about Charles Campbell Road, which leads to areas such as Shivajinagar, Fraser Town and Murphy Town, saying the one-km stretch is filled with a large number of potholes. “Around 50,000 people use this road every day. We have seen motorcyclists skid and fall. There have been minor accidents, too, but the road has not been repaired for the last three years,” said N S Ravi of the Bharathinagar Residents’ Forum.
The protesters demanded that the BBMP officers visit the spot.
Residents have been using various platforms to vent their anger on the BBMP. As complaints registered on the BBMP’s Sahaya platform go unanswered, citizens are using Twitter and other social media to highlight broken roads. A majority of the complaints pertain to areas located in the outer wards such as Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura and Dasarahalli.
“Travelling on Bangalore roads is a nightmare. These roads have not been laid for over a year. The government and BBMP have turned a blind eye. Taxpayers money is going into potholes (sic),” said Vidhya, a Twitter user, tagging BBMP officials and elected representatives.
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(Published 30 November 2021, 20:11 IST)
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