Bengaluru protesters race paper boats in waterlogged potholes, hit streets after taking leave from work
The protesters made paper boats and raced them in waterlogged potholes, only to expose the condition of roads Bengaluru's Babusapalya.
On a Monday morning, a group of protesters took to the streets in Bengaluru’s Babusapalya to raise their voices against the pathetic condition of roads in the area. The protesters made paper boats and raced them in waterlogged potholes, only to expose the condition of roads in this east part of the city, where thousands of techies live.
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The residents hit the streets and shouted slogans against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city's civic body. They claimed that BBMP has wholly ignored the condition of roads in the area for the past several years. A resident named Valmiki, who protested at the event, said, “I have been living in this area for six years now, and never have I seen a clear road after a small rain. Even a 10-minute rain makes our life tough as roads get filled with water and nobody bothers to act. The civic body should at least step up and fix the menace in the area.” Valmiki skipped his work on a Monday to protest against the authorities.
Another person called Soumya Akula said, “The building that collapsed recently is just meters away from here and many leaders including the chief minister visited this area last week. But the condition of roads in this area went unaddressed. It is sad that we had to take a leave from work and join the protest against the government. I hope the stakeholders hear us.”
Residents race boats
As a mark of protest against the bad roads, the residents prepared paper boats and floated them on water-logged potholes. The videos went viral on social media, and several users slammed the civic body for its unchanging negligence. A user said, “There needs to be mass protests across Bengaluru. Sadly, we have to protest for basic facilities that most nations take for granted, even nations poorer than us.”
Karnataka deputy CM and Bengaluru development minister DK Shivakumar said he directed the officials to make tech capital, a pothole free city. He said, “I asked the BBMP commissioner to fill all the potholes in Bengaluru in the next 15 days. The civic body found 2,795 potholes across the city, and they will be filled at a cost of ₹660 crore. Compared to previous years, people are now less affected by rains.”