If someone new to the city were told our city’s roads were carpet-bombed by the enemy, they could well believe it thanks to the potholes that seem to be getting worse by the day.
While rains are usually celebrated, Bangaloreans run for cover at the first good shower that usually floods the roads, the receding water also carrying off big chunks of our roads. Most citizens drive, ride or walk gingerly on our potholed roads during and after the rain.
Curious numbers
No one really knows how it’s done, but the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) routinely cranks out the numbers of potholes in our city.
So, according to its figures, not only have the number of potholes identified by the BBMP increased from about 33,000 nearly a month ago to 40,190 in the latest survey, the unfilled potholes have also multiplied.
Against the 13,239 potholes shown as unfilled by the civic authority on July 8, the latest statistic released on Tuesday reveals that the number of unfilled potholes is estimated at 16,785.
Now, potholes have emerged as one of the major problems faced by the citizens of Bangalore along with traffic woes and poor garbage management.
Death traps
N. Mukund, member of Citizens Action Forum, squarely blamed the civic authorities for the pothole menace that has come to haunt the residents of the city.
Poor maintenance and inordinate delay in carrying out repairs had led to the poor condition of roads.
“Small potholes are turning into large craters, leading to traffic snarls. [Stagnant water] has turned many stretches into death traps,” he said, while identifying Tumkur Road, Mysore Road, Old Madras Road and Magadi Road among the worst affected.
Construction work for the metro project along with movement of heavy vehicles had also contributed to potholes, he said.
Meanwhile, BBMP’s engineer in chief M. Rangaraju attributed the increasing number of potholes to the incessant rainfall. Also, filling them up in the rainy season is a tough task as the asphalt laid on the roads is washed away. “However, it does not mean that we have stopped the work. We can carry out the work in a more efficient manner once the rains subside,” he said.
Officials said they had filled up more potholes last week — 23,405 against the 20,509 that had been filled up as of July 8.
East division of the BBMP has the highest number of potholes at 9,995 of which 7,011 had been filled up, the BBMP claimed. But, it still had almost 3,000 potholes (by its own reckoning) unfilled.
