Bengaluru pothole accident: Warned, but cops didn’t see this

BENGALURU: Had the BBMP and traffic cops taken the complaint of one of the concerned citizens seriously, the tragic death of Stuthi Tripathy Pandey while riding the pillion with her husband at Devarabisanahalli on Outer Ring Road (ORR) on Thursday could have been avoided.

Ms Akanksha Mehrotra, a private company employee, who uses this stretch regularly, had lodged a complaint with the Outer Ring Road traffic police about the pothole and poor stretch of road at Devarabisanahalli at least a week before the fatal accident.

Her post on the Bangalore Traffic Police Facebook page read, “Witnessed this death trap on service road (near Bellandur Central). This hampered traffic movement on service road. Kindly look into the issue because the pit may not be visible during rains and can lead to an accident.”

Instead of getting the problem fixed, the police asked Ms Mehrotra to inform the BBMP mayor on his official mail ID and secured the pothole with a cement block (as shown in the picture). The traffic police reply stated, “Dear Akanksha Mehrotra, please inform BBMP Mayor Bangalore <mayorbangalore@gmail.com>, <mayor@bbmp.gov.in> (BBMP control room 080-22975803) and sector traffic officer will be informed about your post.”

As suggested by the police, she sent the same complaint to mayorbangalore@gmail.com and mayor@bbmp.gov.in. But there was no response from the BBMP at all, let alone filling it. Since the stretch of road connects to the IT corridor and a large number of people use it, the BBMP and traffic cops should have given special attention to prevent road accidents on this road. The BBMP must periodically inspect these roads and either cover up potholes or get the contractors to maintain them to ensure safety of citizens, she suggested.