Mayor raps engineers over rain damage, potholes in city

With the city's roads riddled with potholes after the recent rain, Mayor R Sampath Raj took chief engineers of all zones to task on Tuesday at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council meeting.

Raj asked all chief engineers to submit a report with ward-wise details of the damage caused both due to rain and potholes. "I do not want the city to face such a situation ever again and we need to ensure that we are prepared to handle such situations," said Raj.

According to the latest deadline set by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, all potholes have to be filled by November 6, failing which engineers will be suspended. To address the issue, the mayor called up all zonal level chief engineers and sought details of damage caused by rain and potholes. Some chief engineers were at the receiving end when they listed fewer potholes against the actual figures. The chief engineer of west zone said there were only eight potholes in the entire zone and that only Mahalakshmipuram ward was flooded.

Mamatha Vasudev, JP Park corporator, said, "There must be eight potholes in Malleswaram alone. I have never seen any engineer working on potholes or stormwater drains."

Chief engineer of east zone said there are 4,157 potholes of which around 3,000 have been filled. He listed out Domlur, RMV 2nd Stage, Cambridge Layout, Hebbal and Halasuru as some of the flooded areas.

BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said the Palike has taken the help of STUP Consultants to complete work on drains. "The rainfall this time was twice the normal. We will come up with a comprehensive plan to design drains. We have allotted Rs 55 crore to HSR Layout and Rs 25 crore for Koramangala."