CMs deadline but potholes remain

BANGALORE: Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had issued instructions to all the civic bodies to make the state pothole-free by January 15. The deadline has passed and Bangalore’s civic body, grappling with its internal battles, is yet to act.As of Sunday, the pothole count in the city crossed 47,000 and in spite of a whopping Rs 1,000-crore budget to fix bad roads, the problem is still staring Bangaloreans in the face.“We were promised a pothole- free state, but Bangalore itself has so many bad roads. First it was the metro construction, then the monsoons and now the BBMP is running out of excuses,” pointed out Dr Deepak Sahukar, a resident of Kumaraswamy Layout.BBMP engineers claim that although south Bangalore has fewer such issues, the problem will escalate due to the metro construction. “We are trying to fix all problematic roads. But we have a limited budget. Besides, although each ward is allocated Rs 10 lakh, we have other welfare issues apart from bad roads and potholes to look at,” revealed a BBMP engineer on condition of anonymity.When questioned about the bad roads and lack of post-monsoon action, BBMP officials passed the blame on to other civic bodies. “Even if we fix potholes, BESCOM and BWSSB dig up roads to lay wires and pipes.Bangalore cannot be completely pothole free. It is the job of local ward engineers to fix the problem. Setting a deadline is not practically possible,” argued S Harish, deputy mayor, BBMP.