Bengaluru’s pothole mission continues: GBA races to meet new November 10 target

Recent initiatives include resurfacing 140 roads and a ₹100 crore junction improvement plan, but criticism persists over the quality of repairs.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) has reported that close to 18,000 potholes have already been repaired across the city, with arterial and sub-arterial roads largely covered.

Underlying issues such as water-leakage damage have been identified as contributing to the recurring problem of potholes.

“Some ward-level potholes remain, and we will take up a major drive over the next three days to complete the work,” said Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao.

Underlying issues such as water-leakage damage have been identified as contributing to the recurring problem of potholes, Deccan Herald reported.

A detailed breakdown shows repairs by zone: Central 2,319; North 3,375; East 3,325; West 5,530; South 3,136; and B.SMILE 239 — totaling 17,924 potholes thus far. Recent action on major resurfacing works includes a white-topping programme of 140 roads covering 220.68 km (39 roads/79.08 km completed; 101 roads/141.59 km in progress) and black-topping (asphalting) plans covering 386.5 km at a cost of ₹694 crore (currently 44 % complete).

Additionally, a junction-improvement plan called Suraksha 75 has been approved for ₹100 crore, with an urban design cell setup for 75 junctions (progress at 40 %).

The state cabinet recently approved ₹900 crore for ward-level improvement works, of which ₹200 crore worth of tenders have already been floated.

Despite the large-scale effort, Bengaluru’s road-repair campaign continues to draw sharp criticism from commuters and resident groups. Many complain that newly filled potholes reappear within days due to hasty patchwork and poor quality control. Citizen groups in areas like Varthur and Mahadevapura have renewed calls for accountability, even staging symbolic protests with slogans like “No roads, no tax.”

With the revised November 10 deadline looming, civic engineers and contractors are under pressure to deliver long-lasting repairs while commuters continue to navigate uneven, damaged stretches across the city.