The Karnataka High Court on Monday set up an independent commission comprising the head of the Military Engineering Services (MES) in Bengaluru and the Member-Secretary of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) to inspect the works undertaken by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to fill up potholes as well as for elucidation of the several aspects related to the condition of roads in the city.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice S.G. Pandit passed the order during the hearing of a PIL petition related to the poor condition of the roads.
The court commissioners — Dinesh Agrawal, Superintending Engineer, CWE (Army), Military Engineering Services, Bengaluru, and Uma M.G, a district judge and Member-Secretary, KSLSA — were asked to inspect 4 wards in Yelahanka zone and seven in West zone, as the BBMP claimed that the work of filling potholes in these wards is ‘100% complete’. The commissioners were asked to submit a preliminary report to the court on Tuesday.
Earlier, BBMP counsel V. Sreenidhi submitted that about 90% of the task of filling potholes has been accomplished and the work is continuing because several new/other potholes were discovered. A status report relating to the potholes pointing out the roads, name of the contractors, size of the potholes and the date of attending to the potholes with the images taken before and after execution of the work was also submitted to the court.
When the bench asked whether BBMP has achieved ‘zero’ pothole in any area, the BBMP counsel, on securing information from engineers present in the court, said that filling up of potholes is ‘100% complete’ in seven wards (in Malleswaram area) out of total 44 wards in West zone and 4 wards of total 11 wards in Yelahanka zone.
The bench asked court commissioner to inspect these wards while orally asking the government counsel to inform the police commissioner to make necessary arrangements for the inspection without causing any inconvenience to the public.
Commission visits Yelahanka
The court commission appointed by the High Court to verify BBMP’s claims visited Yelahanka on Monday evening.
The commission inspected several locations in Yelahanka Ward 1 and 2. While no potholes were found, they pointed to the poor quality of work, which had seen even covered potholes open up.
BBMP officials blamed the recent rains.
The commission expressed displeasure at the reply and unhappiness with the quality of works.
“They have asked the technical specifications of the work done,” an official said.
The commission is expected to inspect wards in Mahalakshmi Layout and Malleswaram in the coming days.
Do you know about an earlier committee?
For long-time residents, the High Court order may bring with it a sense of deja vu.
In 2005-06, the court expressed concern over the quality of road work and potholes, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on bad roads in the city. An expert committee was then formed, but its recommendations were barely followed, says S. Raja Rao, a retired captain who led the committee. Working for an entire year, the committee submitted its report in 2006.
“We made a total of 112 recommendations. The then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) argued it cannot implement five recommendations and submitted an affidavit to the High Court saying they will implement the remaining 107 recommendations. It has been 12 years now and none of them have been implemented,” he said.
One of the main recommendations of the report was provision of drains on all roads as stagnation of water led to the rapid erosion of asphalt roads. “The extensive cross drainage works was to be taken up at a cost of ₹435 crore. The city has since expanded from 220 sq.km. to over 700 sq.km., and yet most outer zones do not have proper drainage system,” he said.
He argued that since the civic body had, in an affidavit to the High Court, promised to implement the recommendations, the court must now initiate contempt proceedings against civic officials. “Unless top ranking officials are held accountable, the system is unlikely to be kicked into action,” he said.
