With the monsoons here, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) says it is geared to keep the city’s roads smooth, filling over 900 potholes from April 1 to June 19. And while the BBMP does expect more potholes to emerge due to rain, it claims that it has all the measures in place to address the issue, when it arises.
Cold mix asphalting
The civic body is using cold mix asphalting technology to fill potholes, a procedure that B.S. Prahlad, Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure), BBMP, says is more efficient than machines and will result in more hardy roads.
The BBMP has already set up a cold mix plant and is making this asphalt that can be spread out without the use of machines. “With a cold mix, we can attend to a pothole even in the heaviest rains,” says Mr. Prahlad, adding that at present nearly all potholes are filled.
Even if the potholes resurface, the BBMP promises to fix them when it receives complaints from the citizens via its new Fix My Street app, launched earlier this year, which is available for download on the Google Play.
With help from GPS
“People can register complaints about potholes on this app,” says Mr. Prahlad, adding that this is one of the best methodologies adopted by the civic body. “We can transparently identify and cover the potholes,” he says, adding that citizens need to upload photos on the app with GPS identifying the location.
