JOIN USDisgruntled with the negligence of government agencies, many multi-national companies across the city have planned to include pothole repair in their Company Social Responsibility (CSR) activity agenda.
Even after several protests by citizens and warnings by ministers, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials are yet to fix over 10,000 potholes across the city.
After few of their employees met with accidents due to potholes while commuting to office, the managements have decided to address the issue. They contacted the "Pothole Raja" a.k.a Prathap Bhimasena Rao, who had already gained a name for fixing hundreds of potholes across the city.
"There have been deaths due to potholes in the city. It is becoming worse. So our management decided to include pothole fixing in our CSR activity. When we got to know about Pothole Raja and his initiative, we decided to give it a try and have him fix the potholes in the roads to our office," said Sanjay, Chief Technology Officer of Qwikcilver.
Pothole Raja and team fixed a stretch near Koramangala, that was connecting Qwikcilver office. Along with volunteers, the employees of the company had also joined in the campaign.
Realising the importance of the initiative, other IT parks and multi-national companies like Electronic City, Biocon, White Field, Kalyani Magnum and others have started adopting this model and have fixed more than 500 potholes in their surroundings.
"It costs Rs 2,500 to fix a pothole of 1sqmtr size and 50 mm depth. As there are deadlier potholes across the city, we expect some citizen's organisations to take up the initiative and sponsor a few potholes as well," Prathap hoped.