Bengaluru: Pothole filling or patchwork?
In some areas asphalt has already started wearing out
Bengaluru: With state government’s deadline to fill potholes before November 1 inching closer, the BBMP officials have stepped up repair works, though at some places it is being done in a hotchpotch manner. However, for the last two days pothole filling works have been stalled following heavy rains in the city.
During routine road repairs, the BBMP takes up works after 11 pm, as the vehicular movement is less. But following Thursday night’s heavy rains, the BBMP has decided not to fill asphalt anywhere. Superintendent engineer (Major Roads) K.T Nagaraj said that potholes were being filled in all the eight zones simultaneously, but works had been halted in most parts of the city. “Though it rained heavily in the evening and mild showers continued in the late night, we decided not to take up works in any zone. Since it was gloomy in many areas from Friday morning, we decided to wait on Friday too. Works will resume in all the zones by Saturday,” he said.
Nagaraj said that potholes were being filled manually using conventional procedure and machine filling was not possible on all major roads. “We are filling potholes on arterial roads and main roads as of now and there are thousands that have to be filled in the next month. It’s a tough task,” he stressed.
Asphalt? Doesn’t last even a day
The BBMP may have started pothole filling works rapidly on major roads in the city, but the quality was poor. In some areas asphalt has already started wearing out. In Whitefield, the BBMP filled potholes, but after two days the asphalt has worn out, complained residents on social networking sites. Meanwhile, another resident shared that in Immadihalli (Whitefield) the BBMP filled only one pothole, while another one on the same road was left unfilled. The resident complained that there were no officials monitoring the works.
‘Why should there be potholes in the first place?’
District-in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy’s inspection may have been ‘staged’ by BDA officials, but experts feel the solution to city’s potholes does not lie in some silly inspections. The only pothole that caught Mr Reddy’s attention draws flak. Here are some reactions:
When I first read that Ramalinga Reddy found only one pothole on a 25-km stretch, I thought it must be a typo in papers! Shouldn’t it be 25 potholes in one km? On a serious note, the number of potholes is irrelevant. So what if there is 10 or just one pothole? The minister will invariably instruct the officials concerned to fix it. Instead, the focus should be on preventing the formation of potholes. The government needs to build higher quality roads even if it is expensive. Also, it needs to adopt forward-contracting system, so that it does not have to spend additional costs on maintenance. What we should insist on is roads on which potholes don’t form in the first place.
Ashwin Mahesh, urban planning expert
It’s a serious problem if district-in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy believes there is only one pothole on a 25-km stretch in the city. The idea of a minister and bureaucrats going on inspection to find potholes seems ridiculous. Everybody knows where the potholes are in the city. Instead, the minister should sit in his office and ask the officials for photographs and think about addressing the reasons leading to formation of potholes. Detailing causes and preventive measures is needed and that should be given importance. Also, manual pothole filling should be stopped in the city as it is turning out to be sham. Compacter, machines like Python should be put to use which are highly efficient.
R.K Misra, member, Whitefield Rising