BENGALURU, 8 JUNE

With hardly two weeks left before the deadline to fill up potholes, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) could fill up only 50 per cent of them, and adding to the misery, 40-50 new potholes are surfaced daily.

On 22 May, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah instructed that all potholes on ward roads and arterial and sub-arterial roads must be filled within one month.

On 22 May, there were around 5,500 potholes on ward roads and 557 potholes on arterial and sub-arterial roads in the City. The civic body has filled up 2,652 potholes from 23 May to 7 June, and on 4 June alone, 151 potholes were repaired. As of 7 June, as many as 2,760 potholes have to be filled and an additional 28 new potholes were identified in the ward roads and 42 were identified in arterial and sub-arterial roads, according to the data received by Salar News from BBMP.

Officials are now caught between filling existing potholes and keeping track of new ones. Speaking to Salar News, a BBMP Assistant Chief Engineer, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “Because of the elections and unpredictable climate, the work was delayed and we hope to fill up the potholes by 22 June.” BBMP Technical Chief Engineer Sudhakar KR told Salar News that potholes on arterial and sub-arterial roads will be filled up first before those on the ward roads.

Frustrated citizens

Residents in the City have expressed frustration that deadlines for pothole repairs have been revised by every government with no permanent solutions implemented to address the recurring issue.

The residents say cracks are appearing in the newly filled-up potholes, raising questions about the quality of the materials used in the works. Vishak Nayak, a resident from RR Nagar, told Salar News, “Last week, I saw a few BBMP officials filling the potholes near Anurag Layout. When our area received heavy rainfall, those potholes developed cracks again.”

Another resident from Hoodi, Adarsh S Lathika told Salar News “Every day I have a tricky ride from my apartment to a nearby bakery because there are around 40 small-size potholes and a few big-size potholes in a span of 1km.”

RR Nagar and Yeshwantpur have the highest number of potholes (1,162) to be filled up in the City, as per the BBMP data. “As it is a traffic-filled area we are managing to finish the work during the non-peak hours,” a BBMP Chief Engineer said.

Shortage of bitumen

A couple of ward engineers, requesting for anonymity, the shortage of bitumen is affecting the quality of work. “Bitumen, which is a residue from petroleum distillation, is a key ingredient in filling up the potholes. It’s waterproof and acts as a binding agent for other constituents. We are forced to fill up potholes with limited resources,” the ward engineers said.

MN Sreehari, traffic engineering advisor & consultant to governments, told Salar News, “The cracks on newly filled-up potholes show that the right amount of bitumen was not used. Bitumen is a strong agent and if it is used correctly, there will not be any cracks on the roads.” -Salar News