Bengaluru’s pothole crisis: Crores spent but fresh tar roads last only weeks

Bengaluru: Just three months after the Uttarahalli main road was repaired with a fresh coat of tar, potholes began to reappear on the busy stretch, rendering the repairs a mere “tilling for billing” exercise. A similar situation is unfolding on Channasandra main road in Whitefield, where the freshly-laid tar has peeled off, lasting only a week.

For commuters, it’s a vicious cycle: potholes often outlast the road’s motorable condition in any particular year. 

While most live with it, some amplify the issue on social media. And that’s exactly what Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder of logistics firm BlackBuck, did when he suggested that the company might move out of Outer Ring Road’s Bellandur area due to worsening infrastructure and traffic woes.

It was, however, only after the viral post, which attracted both national and international headlines, that the government sprang into action to address road issues, primarily focusing on filling potholes and asphalting roads. 

While funding was not a major concern for Bengaluru, a lot of projects—worth over Rs 3,000 crore—were running behind deadlines for no good reason. This includes white-topping 143.68 km of roads, asphalting about 450 km, improving junctions, and more.

In the latest budget, the authorities have earmarked Rs 18 crore towards filling potholes on important corridors and another Rs 45 crore for filling potholes on ward roads.

Measures such as procuring cold-mix asphalt, manufacturing hot-mix asphalt, and deploying the automated pothole-filling machine, Jetpatcher, have been put in place. However, due to various administrative reasons, there was not much proactive effort to spot and fill the potholes until recently.

How much money is too much?

Bengaluru’s tryst with potholes is not new. The city’s roads develop potholes after every monsoon season, and the civic body struggles to fill them. From developing new mobile application to spot the potholes to deploying machines like Python to fill potholes, there is nothing that the city has not tried to fix the issue.

Money has also been never a problem. Ahead of the last three assembly elections, Bengaluru received a financial bonanza. During Siddaramaiah’s first term, Rs 9,791 crore was released; during HD Kumaraswamy and BS Yediyurappa’s terms, Rs 10,442 crore was allocated; and during Basavaraj Bommai’s term, Rs 8,123 crore was released. Despite everything, the road conditions remain poor.

Highlighting the lack of accountability, former councillor NR Ramesh said that the now-dissolved Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) cleared bills to the tune of Rs 5,032 crore in the last 26 months, yet the roads continue to have potholes.

“These bills were mostly related to the development of 874 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads,” he said, terming the entire road-repair exercise a “loot.” “Even if one starts counting now, Bengaluru still has around 50,000 potholes,” he added. 

This is perhaps why Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rejected the request of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which had sought an additional Rs 1,100 crore to repair the 500 kms of arterial and sub-arterial roads that are not under the defect liability period (DLP). He reportedly directed the engineers to complete the existing projects first and fill up the potholes before seeking fresh grants. 

Substandard materials

While there is a focus on the number of potholes filled and roads repaired, little attention has been given to ensuring that roads remain in good condition for an extended period.  Earlier this week, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced that all five corporations had filled over 13,000 potholes. However, not everyone was satisfied with the quality of work. In places such as Babusapalya and Hennur Main Road, there are over 100 potholes, even though they were repaired just a month ago.

A school bus met with an accident in Panathur while trying to avoid potholes. The 20 students travelling in the vehicle were shifted to another bus.

According to insiders, contractors often procure substandard tar, which is the root cause of potholes on Bengaluru’s roads that appear every year. While reputed companies like Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. charge around Rs 50,000 per tonne of bitumen, some contractors in Bengaluru buy from third-party suppliers who import lower-quality products, often from Iran. This is commonly referred to as “Karwar bitumen.”

“It’s adulterated and at least Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per tonne cheaper than what’s available from premium refineries,” a source said. He added that the contractors choose to procure from these suppliers as they also offer a credit line of one to two years.

“This is an attractive offer, especially since the government delays payments,” the source said, suggesting that it is the reason why asphalted roads do not last long.

Urbanist RK Mishra, who has been appointed as an independent director of Bangalore Smart Infrastructure Ltd. (B-SMILE), said urban roads require VG 30 or Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMB), which should be directly procured from reputable refineries.

“What we get is a third-rate product. At the time of work, there is a check on the temperature and quantity of tar used. While both materials may look the same, there is no check on the source and type of material procured,” he said.

There is also a discrepancy in the bituminous emulsion used during resurfacing. Former councillor NR Ramesh noted that, in some cases, not just kerosene but even black water was used before laying the tar, which is bound to come off because there is no proper binding component.

Cutting corners

Although contractors often deny using substandard materials, they acknowledge a rise in corruption in Karnataka compared to other states, such as Tamil Nadu and Bihar. They also say that the delay in payments contributed to the poor quality of work, as bills for BBMP-funded works are kept pending for two years, and government-funded projects are kept pending for a year or so.

“A majority of the contractors who took up work three years ago have not taken on new projects since. This shows that many have lost money. There is corruption not just in securing works but also while clearing bills. There is also an increase in the ‘percentage’,” said KT Manjunath, president of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Contractors’ Association. 

Contractors argue that the government must provide a higher tender premium, currently just 1-5%. They also point out that the roads built by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) last longer, as the contractor is also expected to maintain them as per the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and Built Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) model. In contrast, the maintenance period of Bengaluru roads is sometimes as short as one year.

What the future holds

Most experts agree that Bengaluru’s future will likely remain plagued by potholes unless systematic changes are made. “There is no one-point solution,” said a civil engineering expert who preferred anonymity.

“First, many roads in the city’s outskirts need complete redoing, including foundation work, not just resurfacing. Second, contract conditions — especially for Metro and white-topping projects — require ensuring motorable stretches where work is not yet completed, but that does not happen,” he said, adding that arterial roads must be given grants for periodic maintenance.

Activists believe that a few MLAs in Bengaluru have not taken responsibility for ensuring their constituency is liveable and that the roads are free from potholes.

“About 90% of MLAs have gotten re-elected for a quarter of a century, yet they don’t seem to have any accountability for infrastructure like roads. If the MLAs do not have a vision to develop the city, who else must take the blame?” asked an activist, reminding that MLAs have had complete control over funds of not just the state government but also of the civic body governing Bengaluru city in the absence of an elected body for the last five years.