The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), on Wednesday, scrambled to put out a public notification informing citizens they can claim compensation for loss or damage caused by footpaths and roads after being pulled up by the High Court of Karnataka. While many citizen activists and residents’ welfare associations welcomed the move, they pointed out that it would be more cost-effective for the BBMP if it maintained and upgraded the existing road and pavement infrastructure.
According to D.S. Rajashekhar, the former president of Citizens’ Action Forum — a forum of various RWAs in the city — the BBMP had failed in its obligatory duty of providing good, motorable roads and pedestrian-friendly footpaths. “It is unfortunate that the High Court had to step in and rap the civic body,” he said and blamed the lackadaisical attitude of officials. He pointed out that the redressal mechanisms had also failed to provide any recourse to citizens.
Sahaya app
Concurring, Padmanabhaiah Veluru, from Kanakagirinagara RWA, said there was no mechanism in place for the BBMP to properly address complaints from citizens. “The tickets raised on BBMP’s Sahaya app go unresolved for months on end,” he said.
Srinivasamurthy Vasudev, from Girinagar RWA, said ward committees had been given the responsibility of ensuring basic infrastructure in the wards and bringing deficiencies to the attention of the councillor and local authorities. He suggested that the BBMP set up a corpus for payment of compensation to citizens who are victims of accidents caused by poor civic infrastructure.
“Citizens should not be made to run from pillar to post for compensation. Once proven that the accident was because of poor infrastructure, compensation should be given immediately,” he stated.
Mr. Rajashekhar charged that it was also laughable that the civic body was giving out numbers of potholes filled. “This is just an admission that the BBMP has failed in its obligatory duty of providing basic civic infrastructure in the city,” he added.
‘An eyewash’
Terming the public notification an eyewash, N.S. Mukunda, founder president of CAF, said it was very vague. “How does one quantify the loss incurred or the compensation? Without determining these details, the BBMP has only published the notification to tell the court that it is abiding by orders,” he said.
The notification, he added, would only cause complications and confusion among citizens.
Pothole-related accidents
At a press conference on Wednesday, BBMP commissioner, B.H. Anil Kumar said the BBMP will have to frame rules to provide compensation to victims of pothole-related accidents.
During the monsoon, when the condition of roads had deteriorated, hospitals had recorded a spike in patients who had met with accidents or had bad backs owing to the condition of roads. It prompted HOSMAT — which specialises in orthopaedics, arthritis, trauma and other related injuries — to map accident spots across the city where patients had sustained injuries.
