The Bengaluru traffic police are initiating proactive measures to ensure smooth flow of traffic and avoid accidents due to potholes in the city. These include filing FIRs against officers of civic agencies for negligence. Talking to IANS, Additional Commissioner (Traffic) BR Ravikanthe Gowda said: "We have filed a case against an officer of BBMP as the negligence by the officer had cost a life in Pulikeshi Nagar traffic police limits. In another case, a pothole was not barricaded and a FIR has been filed against an officer of BWSSB. This pothole cost a woman her life," he said.
"Police are identifying potholes and informing authorities concerned to ensure smooth vehicular movement to avoid deaths and injuries to vehicle riders due to potholes," he stated. The police are taking photos of potholes, which will be categorised into major, minor and cross roads and updated with photographs online to civic agencies like Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Public Works Department (PWD) and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), he explained.
After uploading the photos online, police are following it up with the civic agencies and intimating them about the gravity of the situation. "If potholes are filled, it will definitely reduce accidents," he stated. The Bengaluru traffic police have filled as many as 500 potholes themselves.
According to an earlier TNM report, an elderly man aged 65 years, Khurshid Ahmed, with a physical disability had died on September 6. The incident had taken place when he was travelling on a road near Mangammanapalya in Bengaluru. Khurshid used a scooter fitted with extra wheels and when riding on a bad stretch of road his scooter’s front wheel sank into a hole that was dug up, causing him to get thrown off his scooter.
Just a few days later, a 47-year-old man died after falling into a pit dug up by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). According to police, the road was laden with potholes. This led to him losing control. Additionally, the police said that the street didn't have proper lighting or a warning sign for the pit.