The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) while hearing the petition against the growing number of potholes on Bengaluru's roads.
The petition, filed by residents of the city in 2015, had so far challenged the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) over its inaction in filling up potholes and fixing roads in Bengaluru.
Things, however, took a turn inside Court Hall No. 1 of the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday when Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari confirmed that the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will also be impleaded in the case.
The decision was taken on the recommendation of the two-member commission constituted by the High Court on Monday to inspect the quality of roads in the city. The commission comprising Dinesh Agarwal, Commander Works Engineering of the Military Engineering Services (MES) and Uma MG, Member Secretary of the Karnataka Legal Services Authority, visited Yelahanka on Monday evening and submitted a report of their findings to the High Court on Tuesday.
In its report, the commission noted that a number of potholes correlated with areas where the BWSSB had dug pipelines. "Several points where potholes were found correlate with the work done by BWSSB," Dinesh Agarwal informed the court on Tuesday. His colleague Uma MG added, "While patchwork has been carried out in Yelahanka in some areas, they have been done in a hurry." The duo submitted their report to the High Court on Tuesday recommending that BWSSB be added as a party in the case.
"The preliminary report by the commission found that the BWSSB's work coincide with the areas where potholes were found, especially where the water body had dug pipelines," explained Anuradha SR, the advocate of the petitioners.
The two-member commission will continue to collate reports from different areas in Bengaluru over the next two days. Seven wards each in Malleshwaram and Mahalakshmi Layout have been identified. Both are areas the BBMP claims are 'pothole free'.
The commission also pointed out to the judge that the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), Chandrasehkar, from Yelahanka, did not produce documents requested detailing the materials used in the making of the road.
Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari presiding over the case further asked the BBMP to give a specific response to the reported submitted by the Commission.