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Despite ₹6,768 cr spent on repair, potholes remain a bane for Bangaloreans
A total of ₹6,768 crore for three years between 2018 and 2021 for the construction and repair of major and sub-prime roads in the city along with that Karnataka HC and CM have provided deadlines to fix roads yet there seems to be a gap in good road infrastructure around Bengaluru city.
After Karnataka High Court orders and a severe warning, majority of potholes in Bengaluru roadways have been fixed, the govt claimed. The Karnataka state government said it had provided a total of ₹6,768 crore for three years between 2018 and 2021 for the construction and repair of major and sub-prime roads in the city. The roads, however, are still uneven, denying riders and vehicles a pleasant ride.
The potholes were patched up quickly to meet a deadline set by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and the Karnataka High Court. However, commuters aren’t particularly happy. While cars with strong suspension avoid the bone-jarring jerks, two-wheelers are the ones that get into difficulty. Bikers say they have to drive slowly all of the time, and it's worse when the streetlights are dim or turned off.
The public still complains that the city is in a position to create and develop more potholed roads. Despite the repairs on paper, commuters still complain of strained spinal cords, back, neck, and shoulder pains, and other issues.
When citizens complain to BBMP engineers or ward committees, officials claim that the potholes have been patched and that they have been ordered to do so. The contractors also acknowledge that they were instructed to patch the potholes, which they did.
Replying to a question asked by Govindaraju a member of the Vidhan Sabha, the CM said that 4,761 road development projects including pothole-related projects have been taken by the BBMP in the past three years out of which 3,655 projects were completed. Out of the total 7,011 km of road development work, only 4,696 km of road development has been completed.
But there are still potholes on many of the city's main roads even after lots of deadlines. Patches have begun to fall off in some regions, exposing craters. For example, there are pothole patches on Mahakavi Kuvempu road that were worked on twice. The road is not good even after it was fixed in Malleswaram, and the roads are still dilapidated in the areas of Vyalikaval, Guttahalli, Javaregaudanagar, Srinagar, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kalidasa, RR Nagar.
In some regions, the potholed roads have been dug up by BWSSB or BESCOM for water and cable operations and have not been fixed since, owing to a lack of coordination among government organizations. According to a BBMP engineer who asked to remain anonymous, "People are unappreciative of our efforts. The potholes have been patched according to the instructions. The roads will be levelled out as a result of wear and strain."
