`Spot the pothole' contest: no rewards given to callers on day one

`Spot the pothole' contest: no rewards given to callers on day one

The Hindu

Officials say none of those spotted by people are located on `identified' roads

# All the three BMP zonal offices flooded with calls
# Complaints from people residing in CMCs dismissed as `out of jurisdiction'

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BMP) "spot a pothole and win Rs. 100" contest, which started on Monday, did not acknowledge any prize winning pothole on the first day.

While dozens of calls flooded all the three zonal offices of the civic body, officials said none of the spotted potholes were located on the 142 roads identified by the BMP for the contest.

The south zone office received several calls from people residing in City Municipal Councils and all were dismissed as "out of jurisdiction."

South zone Technical Assistant V. Srinivas Murthy, who is incharge of giving the reward to winners of the contest in his area, told The Hindu that people had identified potholes on the cross-roads and lanes in Puttenahalli, RBI Colony and Padmanabhanagar. "As these areas are not on the list of "pothole-free roads," it was difficult to convince callers," he said.

The East zonal office received five calls from residents who said they had spotted potholes in Indiranagar, Airport Road and Ulsoor Road. Official incharge of this zone P.M. John said none of the calls were on the identified stretches.

Similarly, the West zone office in Malleswaram received 13 calls from residents of BEL Road, Subramanyanagar, 2nd Main Railway Track, 14th Cross Malleswaram, Srirampuram, Gandhinagar, Kastruba Main Road, Chamarajpet Circle and Rajajinagar 2nd block. Official incharge of this zone Idaya Venden pointed out none of these calls were located on the identified roads. "People are confused about the identified roads and call us as soon as they spot a pothole on any road. They are eligible for the reward only if the pothole is spotted on the stretches identified in the first phase," he said.