Bengalureans, who are already suffering flooding and trees falling in heavy rain, are now having to put up with roads that have gone from bad to worse in the recent thunder showers the city has been experiencing. With the rain battering the roads, crater- like potholes have emerged in several areas, exposing the shoddy asphalting done by the BBMP.
Despite the huge funds it claims to spend on repairing roads and desilting drains in preparation for the monsoon, the BBMP has once again failed in its job as the recent downpour clearly reveals. With shoulder drains remaining clogged, the rain water on the roads has nowhere to go and forms pools that eventually lead to potholes, washing away the asphalt. As city civic evangelist, V Ravichander aptly puts it, "Today's road puddle is tomorrow's pothole."
Passport office - Koramangala
For commuters like software engineer, Dayanand, who uses the Outer Ring Road and Mahadevpura Main Road regularly to get to work, the potholes are a menace and even life threatening as they lie hidden under water on flooded roads waiting to trap unsuspecting two-wheeler riders. “These roads are known to have potholes, but the heavy rain of the last week has made their condition even worse. It gets terrible at night as they are not visible in the poor lighting, making it very inconvenient for people to drive on them. To fix the problem I think the locals should form a forum and lodge a complaint,” he says.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road
Those using the Mysore Road, like Ms Michelle, who lives in the area, find commuting an even bigger hazard. Having to travel 20 kms every day to work and back, she says the potholes on the road delay her constantly and force her to reach home late.
"The potholes are very deep in places like Sompura on Mysore Road. As people are not aware of where they are they often drive into them, holding up traffic," she rues. There’s no escaping the problem, according to her, as the alternative routes too are filled with potholes.
Another fed up commuter, Vivek, who is a cricketer, insists that the people deserve better roads considering that they pay for their upkeep." Problems like potholes are not small and can cause accidents, traffic jams and so on. It is the duty of every citizen to demand his right to a better ride on the roads," he stresses.
A student, Monica Sharan, astutely observes there are fewer potholes on roads that VIP’s often travel by. "A government elected by the people should ensure pothole- free roads not only for VIPs, but also for the common man, who took the effort to vote for it. Places like Badrappa Layout and Hebbal Service Road are poorly planned and the recent rain has left them in a deplorable condition,” she complains.
BBMP officials delay tender process, push repair work to June, July: Padmavathi
Ask city Mayor, Padmavathi about the condition of roads deteriorating in every spell of rain and she blames BBMP officials for delaying the process of tendering for asphalting them. "Officials delay the tendering process under the pretext of transparency and ultimately push it to June or July when it has begun to rain," she regrets, claiming that since taking over as the Mayor, she has been striving hard to change things.
Ms Padmavathi believes the civic agency should be given exemption under section 4 G of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act to speed up the process of laying roads so the asphalting can be done well before the rains arrive to wash it away.
Shockingly, despite evidence to the contrary, the BBMP claims to spend in crores to fill potholes on major arterial and sub-arterial roads. And the 198 corporators are given between Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh each for developmental work in their respective wards, which should keep the roads in good condition , but doesn't.
Civic evangelist, V Ravichander says that whenever a pothole appears it should be fixed by drilling a neat square or rectangle inside it to certain specifications and then filling it. “Currently we are seeing merely adhoc filling which is poorly done. After a pothole is filled it must be barricaded for a while to protect it from traffic,” he explains.
Mr Ravichander also suggests better designing of drains to let the water run off the roads and stop them from being damaged. “Water is asphalt's biggest enemy," he points out.
