New potholes adorn 60% of 14,000-km roads under BBMP, people furious

Bengaluru: On one side, more than 50 layouts in Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli, East Zone of the city have been flooded due to rain. Apart from that, potholes have appeared on 14,000 km long roads of the city as a result of heavy downpour, and it is a challenge for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to fix them.

There are a total of 14,000 km of roads under the jurisdiction of BBMP, of which 4,000 km are main and sub-main roads. Among them, 18,000 potholes were found and closed from last May till September first week. However, new potholes have been created along with the already closed road potholes due to the rains that have poured for the past one week. Accordingly, it is estimated that more than 15,000 potholes have been created on the main, sub-main and ward roads all over the city.

Around Rs 30 lakh per ward is given annually for road maintenance and fixing potholes. In most of the wards, more than 70% of the amount has been used. In addition, BBMP has spent more than Rs 40 crore for the repair of main and sub-main roads. If you look at it, BBMP has spent more than Rs 60 crore for road repair in the last five to six months. Now all that amount is gone on toss in the rain waters.

Rs 30 crore needed?

Potholes have appeared on 60 percent of the 14,000 km long road due to the rains that have fallen in the last week. Some of the roads are completely washed away. Therefore, BBMP needs at least Rs 30 crore for the repair of this road.

Problem due to work of other departments Water board, BESCOM, Telecom companies and other departments have caused the problem by digging the road in Bengaluru area. Thus, the road digging departments did not cover it adequately and left it covered with soil. Such road excavations are now huge and the situation has become impossible for vehicular traffic.

As far as Bengaluru is concerned, the problem of road potholes increases every monsoon. BBMP spends more than Rs 50 crore on pothole filling every year. But, since this is not a quality work, potholes on road occur frequently and people suffer problems. Due to the increase in rainfall this time, this problem is seen on a large scale.