Following the removal of flex banners across Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court, led by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, came down heavily on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and told them to ensure that the city is free of potholes by Thursday.
"It should be zero potholes by tomorrow. It is your job. How you go about it is up to you. Bengaluru has to be put back on its glory from every angle. If you cannot do it, then we would have to take a call. The city cannot be left to anybody’s mercy" a Division Bench of CJ Maheshwari and Justice SG Pandit observed, according to The TImes of India.
While hearing a PIL filed by Vijayan Menon of the Citizens Action Forum and others, the bench also noted that potholes were a minor part of the larger traffic problem. The PIL had sought a direction from the court to ask the Palike to submit an action plan to fix potholes, and also to introduce a system to record complaints about the condition of roads in the city. Furthermore, the petitioners sought a method to award compensation to victims of road accident due to the deplorable condition of the roads.
“Are your officers not ashamed of this action of counting potholes,” the bench asked, when it was told that the city had 1,600 potholes, reported The HIndu.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had also taken note and said that the situation was “frightening” when it was told that a total of 3,597 lives were lost across the country due to potholes.
Reacting to the HC’s observation, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said, “The work on filling potholes has been going on almost every day, except on days it rains. A standing instruction has been given to all officers to ensure the roads are pothole-free at the earliest.”