It’s blame game all over again for city roads

BENGALURU: So, who is to blame for the pitiable condition of the city’s roads, which sometimes leads to deaths? Well, it just seems to be a case of passing the buck.After Tuesday’s accident, where a couple died on the Mysore Road flyover, traffic policemen were seen filling potholes with concrete mix. “Filling potholes is not our job. We can fill it up with concrete mix or mud, but it is just a temporary measure. We cannot take responsibility for bad roads, our concern is just traffic,’’ said a traffic police official.

BBMP engineers point fingers at colleagues for the bad condition of the Mysore Road flyover. “Since it was raining, we could not take up work on the entire stretch,’’ said a Palike engineer who did not want to be named. “Flyover maintainance comes under Chief Engineer, major projects. The road below the flyover is maintained by engineers of the South and West zones,’’ they said.

BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said their engineers are filling potholes and repairing roads for many days now. “But rains are hindering their work. If it’s raining, they cannot take up the work.” In the case of Tuesday’s accident, the commissioner said he had visited the stretch and claimed there was no pothole at the accident spot. “The accident was because of reckless driving of the Tamil Nadu-bound bus. BBMP is not at fault in this case,’’ he said.

In 2015, one Om Prakash Tripathi was booked by police after his wife, who was riding pillion, died because of a pothole on the Outer Ring Road flyover near Marathalli. Om Prakash was charged with causing death by negligence while the civic authorities concerned got away scotfree.
Traffic expert Prof M N Sreehari said when there is a death or accident due to bad roads, the road contractor should be held responsible and cases booked against the engineers concerned.
“Motorists who try to avoid potholes and meet with accidents cannot be blamed. After all, they know that if they ride on the pothole, they will fall,” he said.

A senior traffic police officer said, “If the family of an accident victim files a complaint, we register a case. It is is up to the Law and Order police to proceed against officials of BBMP or other agencies who were responsible for maintenance of roads.”