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‘Not drunk, avoiding potholes’: Bengaluru’s civic woes spark social media joke fest
The light-hearted viral thread underscored a more serious point: commuters are fed up with persistent potholes and erratic road repairs in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw shared a photograph of a sticker stuck behind a car, “not drunk, avoiding potholes”, and the image quickly ballooned into a social-media joke fest.
Users piled on with quips such as “In Bangalore, all cars should have this sticker,” “Anyone who goes in a straight line on these roads is suspected of drinking,” and “Bangalore is giving a dirt rally experience free of cost.”
Other tongue-in-cheek posts warned, “Don’t try to hug me, I could bump you off the road.”
(Also Read: 'Why beg Azim Premji?’: Bengaluru resident welfare groups pitch solutions to ease ORR traffic)
Check out the post here:
The light-hearted viral thread underscored a more serious point: commuters are fed up with persistent potholes and erratic road repairs.
But the laughter has a sharper edge. City officials and political leaders are under pressure to show results after a wave of criticism and embarrassing incidents on major stretches.
As pressure is mounting from citizens, the Karnataka government has issued timelines demanding speedy action, instructing contractors to repair pothole-ridden roads and even warning of penalties for shoddy work.
The urgency rose after high-profile disruptions on IT corridors and stretches like Panathur and Balagere, where freshly laid surfaces were quickly re-exposed or damaged, incidents that critics say highlight poor workmanship and temporary “patch-and-go” fixes rather than long-term resurfacing.
A three-month, targeted effort is under way to make major roads motorable through resurfacing, asphalting and white-topping, with managers promising stricter oversight, including the possibility of blacklisting contractors who deliver substandard work and enforcing approved material grades, to ensure repairs last beyond the next rains.
At the same time, there is debate over funding and coordination: some civic groups and residents say more money and better planning are required to widen critical stretches and reopen clogged drains so repairs don’t fail within weeks.
The scale of the infrastructure problem has even driven corporate decisions. Logistics unicorn BlackBuck announced plans to relocate its Bellandur/Outer Ring Road (ORR) office, not out of Bengaluru entirely, but away from the ORR corridor, citing long commutes, chronic traffic snarls and poor, pothole-ridden roads that raised concerns about employee welfare and operational costs.
Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
(Also Read: Bengaluru footpaths compared to Paris, Istanbul, Amsterdam: Viral post sparks outrage)
