Bengaluru’s traffic hold-ups have grown worse with potholes, but the city’s residents are not at their wits’ end when it comes to protesting. After turning road craters into painted mermaid ponds, conducting poojas and corporate social responsibility exercises, they have zeroed in on walkathons.
That is because, they say, the Chief Minister’s many directives and even the suspension of three Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineers haven’t got things moving. So on Sunday morning, 30 members of a local political outfit, the Nav Bharat Democratic Party, organised a ‘pothole walkathon’ in Koramangala to do a spot check on the administration’s pothole filling exercise.
“The civic body has said that almost all potholes have been filled. But, we surveyed Ganapathi Temple Road near Koramangala police station, Koramangala Club Road and 80 Feet Road and found around 50 big and small potholes,” said Sharath Kumar, secretary of the party. Last month, the official tally of potholes in the IT capital reported to BBMP was 15,935.
Walkathons on Sundays planned
Members plan to have walkathons on Sundays in different areas, especially those with high vehicle density. “We also speak to residents, but the focus is on main roads,” said Mr. Kumar.
The drive is now a week old. Last Sunday, the volunteers marched to the Johnson Market and Hosur Road, scouring 2 km. They found 64 potholes. Next Sunday, Whitefield will be mapped, followed by Rajajinagar.
The BBMP is under pressure to prove its claims. Even on segments where patch work was done, the road has started to crumble, activists complain. “Contractors have done sub-standard work. We found gravel has been used to fill potholes,” said Mr. Kumar.
The civic body asserts that the problem had been addressed. “It is all done,” said BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad.