As the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) scrambled to meet the extended deadline set by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, which was Monday evening, citizens from various parts of Bengaluru pitched in with examples of how there was a lot more to be done. Even Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad has admitted that work was far from over.
BENGALURU - KARNATAKA - 04/11/2017 : Motorists struggling to navigate through the recently filled pothole-riddled road, exposing the poor quality of work done by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), at Kenchenahalli main road, near Rajarajeshwari nagar Arch, in Bengaluru on November 04, 2017. Photo: K. Murali Kumar | Photo Credit: K_MURALI_KUMAR
D.S. Rajashekhar, president of Citizens’ Action Forum, an umbrella organisation of over 100 residents’ welfare associations, said most complaints of potholes that the BBMP has forgotten to fill were coming in from the east. Motorists who use Mysuru Road, which saw many accidents because of the bad stretch, also pointed to newly formed potholes. “There is a long stretch on Kenchanahalii Road between Rajarajeshwari Nagar bridge and Vrushabhavathi bridge that is still difficult to negotiate,” said Ramesh, a resident of R.R. Nagar.
Bengaluru Karnataka 06/11/2017 DEATH TRAP Huge pothole pending to be filled at Krishnappa Layout at Rajarejeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru on Monday. Photo: Sampath Kumar G P
The Commissioner has threatened action against engineers of wards where potholes are found, and stricter punishment if newly repaired potholes have given way. But he also said that potholes have appeared owing to Optical Fibre Cables (OFC) and BWSSB work in many places. A week ago, he issued orders keeping all OFC laying permits in abeyance until further notice. But a private company went ahead and dug up a stretch between HAL Airport and Marathahalli to lay OFC, following which the engineer filed a complaint at Jeevan Bima Nagar station on Monday.