BBMP, get your act together

The death of a differently-abled 75-year-old man in a pothole-related accident in Bengaluru’s Kamakshipalya area once again draws attention to the pathetic condition of roads in the city and to the complete lack of coordination between different civic agencies. While some main thoroughfares are being developed under the smart city project, roads in outlying areas and villages that were merged with BBMP years ago have turned into veritable death-traps due to little or no maintenance. Every year, the BBMP either promises that roads will be repaired before monsoons or gives the excuse that the rains have led to potholes. This has been the template response for over two decades now. The situation is no better in areas managed by the BDA. In 2018, a frustrated Karnataka High Court had ordered that all potholes should be filled within a day and even called BBMP engineers shameless, but nothing came of it all as the present state of the roads indicates. In March this year, the court again directed BBMP to submit an action plan to fill potholes on a time-bound basis. Such orders have become almost an annual affair and are not taken seriously because the courts have not initiated punitive action against the engineers and officers concerned, who must be held responsible for accidents occurring due to poorly maintained roads.

In 2019, following a nudge from the High Court, BBMP issued a notification announcing that a compensation of Rs 3 lakh would be paid in case of death due to potholes and up to Rs 15,000 for compound injuries. While such compensation is a must, even if low, a better way of dealing with the issue is to maintain roads in good condition so that such accidents do not occur. But the city’s various civic agencies work at cross-purposes. One agency lays or repairs a road, and almost immediately another agency digs it up to lay water, power or optic fibre lines. It is unacceptable that in the instant case of the senior citizen’s death, none of the civic agencies is ready to accept responsibility and each is passing the buck to the other.

The government should consider bringing all the civic agencies under an over-arching body so that there is better coordination among them. But that does not mean that until then the BBMP should continue to callously watch as bad roads continue to cause deaths and injuries. It is its duty to provide good roads, without having to be reminded by the court annually. It must get its act together, and it must do so now.