Amid rising accidents caused allegedly due to bad roads in the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath claimed that 20,000 potholes have been filled so far from May.
Mr. Giri Nath further said that the recent rain in the city has increased the number of potholes. “Due to the rain, it is difficult to fill the potholes. Hence, once it stops raining, we will start filling potholes. I conducted a meeting yesterday and instructed officials to use 40 loads of cold mix asphalt since preparing hot mix is not possible now due to the rainy weather,” he said on Friday.
Earlier too, during coordination meetings with various agencies, Mr. Giri Nath had directed the BBMP Road Department officials to use this solution.
A video doing rounds on social media went viral on Friday of a woman falling on the road in Kasturinagar Outer Ring Road flyover after her two-wheeler hits a pothole. The video was uploaded by a Twitter user and the incident reportedly happened on August 19.
After the video went viral, the BBMP filled the pothole, according to officials.
The civic chief said ₹30 lakh has been provided to each BBMP ward to fill the potholes apart from ₹10 crore being earmarked in the civic budget. “I have instructed all the officials to use the funds to fill the potholes and complete the work soon,” he added.
Plastic use: BBMP to cancel licence
Despite single-use plastic (SUP) being banned, the city is reporting the use of the SUP, and now the BBMP has decided to cancel the trade licence of the manufacturers in the city.
Mr. Tushar Giri Nath said, “I have told officials to continue the raids on SUP manufacturers and if they don't stop manufacturing SUP, I have instructed the zonal officials to cancel their trade licence.”
Ganesh fest: 63 single-windows
After the Karnataka government on Tuesday issued directions to city corporations and urban local bodies to set up a single-window agency comprising officials of Revenue, Police, Energy, Fire and Emergency Services, and PWD Departments for granting permission to organisers for the public installation of Ganesha idols, the BBMP has set up 63 single window sub-divisions in the city.
The festival falls on Wednesday (August 31) and will be celebrated with fervour in the State and other parts of the country, with fewer restrictions in place after two years of the pandemic.
The BBMP will also set up 421 mobile tanks and 37 temporary Kalyani's across the city, the BBMP commissioner said. The city usually sees over 1.2 lakh idols being immersed in its tanks every year.
