Potholes and monsoon - a recipe for disaster

Potholes and monsoon - a recipe for disaster
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Despite Bangalore City Corporation’s repeated assurances that the city would be rid of potholes, the craters that abound on city roads continue to make life miserable for motorists.

The city’s potholes are not merely eyesores but pose great danger to motorists and pedestrians, given the fact that the April showers have come and gone and a monsoon is brewing.

This month too frequent cloudbursts will turn these potholes into lakes.

Add to this the misery of a riding a two-wheeler on an unpaved road flooded by an overflowing manhole – a dreaded recipe for disaster.

The worst potholes are found on Wheelers Road, Rajajinagar Entrance, Magrath Road, Sampangiramnagar Roads, Bannerghatta Road, JP Nagar VI Phase. These roads are perennially in a state of disrepair.

Some other bad roads include Magadi Road cross, Kormangala I Block roads, Hosur Road, Okalipuram roads, Railway Parallel Road (Seshadripuram).

Most of these roads are bad because they have been dug up for infrastructure work and not repaired and asphalted after completion of the work.

Lampooning the Corporation over this issue has had little effect over the years. To quote a Kannada proverb it is like water off a buffalo’s back.

Former mayor P.R Ramesh had threatened to fine BCC engineers if the potholes in their wards were not filled. But this turned out to be a mere threat.

BCC sources revealed that no engineer had been fined so far. There were others who scoffed at the suggestion and dismissed the Mayor’s warning as a publicity stunt.

Potholes multiply each day, an infestation that has tarnished the image of the city in the international arena with IT biggies threatening to take their businesses to Hyderabad and Chennai.

While it takes little to fill up a pothole, the BCC’s lackadaisical attitude has cost the city much.

Come monsoon, the condition of Bangalore’s roads will soon be in the spotlight. BCC’s infamous indifference will be infuriating and protests will be lodged. Meanwhile, Mayor R. Narayanaswamy told this website’s newspaper on Monday, ‘‘The asphalting of city roads is progressing well and before the onset of the monsoon in two weeks, the roads will be free of potholes.’’