Five people lost their lives to Bengaluru’s killer potholes and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has missed three deadlines set for covering up these craters.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Friday, said that the deadline to cover up potholes is November 6. With just two days left for the work to be completed, the Palike’s officials are working throughout the day to meet the deadline.
“After November 6, I will conduct surprise checks on the roads. If the potholes are not filled, then action will be taken against engineers,” Siddaramaiah said.
Even after this, the city was still riddled with potholes. On October 9, the death toll due to potholes had gone up to five and the Chief Minister set a 15-day deadline to cover up the remaining potholes.
As on Friday, the BBMP claimed that it had covered up 95% of the potholes. “The latest pothole count suggests that there are over 700 potholes in the city. I have conducted night inspections and I can say there are a little less than 4,000 potholes currently. We will fix it by Monday,” Mayor Sampath Raj told TNM.
Official figures state that there are only 780 potholes; 311 are in the South zone, 145 in Bommanahalli and 165 roads with potholes don’t belong to BBMP. The figures suggest that potholes in West zone, Mahadevapura and Yelahanka have all been covered up.
“Major arterial roads are all free of potholes. Only 5% of the job is yet to be completed. We still have two days left and I am confident of finishing the task,” the Mayor said.
However, roads in parts of Shivajinagar, Okalipuram, Mattikere and areas surrounding KR Market, all of which lie in the West Zone, are still in a horrible state.
While the major roads have been asphalted, the by-lanes and interior roads are still in bad condition.
Arsal, a 42-year-old resident of Shivajinagar says that the patch work done by the BBMP have already opened up on some of the roads. “They did not do the work properly. All potholes were not filled. They asphalted the big ones and left out the smaller ones. When a few people pointed it out, they came and filled it but those are also falling apart now,” he added.
Mayor Sampath Raj, who set out on a two-wheeler to conduct night inspections on the work that is being done said that there are chances of potholes opening up but at a very minimal level.
“It could happen due to various external factors. The chances are less than 3%. I have been doing nightly rounds on my two-wheeler to see how the work has been carried out. We have already asked the contractors to look into the issue,” Sampath Raj added.
A timeline of missed deadlines
The BBMP launched its pothole-filling drive on September 15. As usual, the Palike did not keep its promise of completing the work in 10 days and missed the September 25 deadline. The deadline was then pushed to September 30.
On October 23, when the deadline arrived, the city still had potholes. BBMP claimed that 88% were asphalted.
The huge crater on Mysuru Road near Nayandahalli, which had caused the death of a woman, had not yet been filled. At the time, the BBMP and BMRCL were passing the buck on each other for carrying out the repair works.
The deadline was then set for the end of October. The works are still going on and the Mayor says the city now has around 4,000 potholes. The next deadline is on November 6.