Roads crumble like soggy dosas

Roads crumble like soggy dosas
Wait Till Monsoon Goes To Set Things Right
The Times of India


Bangalore: Roads in Bangalore have crumbled like sand-paper, even those that were laid just 20 days ago. Of the 3,800 km of roads that fall under Bangalore City Corporation limits, 90 per cent of them have deteriorated. More so in the last week, aided by incessant rains. Just why should layers of bitumen, macadam, slurry seal and asphalt crumble to water?

On Race Course Road, near Anand Rao junction and adjacent to the JD(S) office, there are more potholes than there is space for. At the Rajajinagar Entrance road, danger lurks, as it has for over two months now. The 80 mm of rain has only aggravated the situation.

The perennial problem for commuters on the potholed Bannerghatta Road near the Indian Institute of Management is a ride from hell. Residents complain that the public works department steps in once the potholed surface disintegrates in no time.

Double Road has been dug up so badly that on Sunday only one lane was accessible. St Marks Road, dug up by the BWSSB to fix an antiquated underground pipe, has been botched up with sand.

On Hosur Road, one of the worst-affected by the rain, workers were filling potholes and craters with quarry dust or just crushed jelly stones. The exercise had to be repeated everyday because the road otherwise couldn’t possibly take vehicular density of 17,000 PCU per hour.

Reasons an official with the BCC’s engineering department: “The first enemy for asphalting is water, so we can’t take up laying of roads or asphalting till the monsoon is over.’’

Till then, rustle up those insurance claims.

Road samples in lab
The high court-appointed panel on roads has been inspecting roads in different wards across the city. On Saturday, the panel checked out roads in Sudhamanagar and Mission Compound. The panel has, so far, sent 60 samples to a lab at Whitefield.

Explains chairperson of the panel Capt Raja Rao:“Laying and asphalting a road are just the beginning. What is needed is regular maintenance, which is never done.’’