Repair major roads within 10 days, orders High Court

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was instructed by the Karnataka High Court on Monday to fill in or repair 221 potholes on critical highways that the corporation had identified within ten days.

"On instructions Sreenidhi V, counsel for BBMP submits that a total number of 2010 potholes were filled up on 14-09-2022 and as per records of BBMP 221 potholes are to be filled up on major roads," said a division bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty. "It is proposed that the hot mix will be used to fill the 221 aforementioned potholes on important roadways within ten days. The aforesaid statement is placed on record and the BBMP is required to produce a compliance report regarding the repair of 221 potholes, along with photos, before the next date of hearing," the bench added. The bench issued the instructions after hearing Vijayan Menon's plea from 2015, in which he requested directions for the fixing of potholes on important arterial routes in the city and for the removal of encroachments on storm water drains and drainage systems. "Since it is a statutory body, BBMP is obligated to keep the roads in good condition. The authorities are required to maintain the roads and make them free of potholes as a result of the citizens' right to have roads without them."

The court ordered the corporation to publicise the grievance procedure it established so that people could file complaints about potholes, and the authority, after doing repair work, would submit photographs of the work undertaken.

The BBMP's legal counsel also informed that road resurfacing tenders have been released, with a completion date of January 31, 2023. 2500 KM of arterial roads in 8 different zones of the city must be resurfaced, and the project must be finished by March 31st 2023. The corporation was ordered by the court to present compliance reports regarding the same

Regarding encroachments over storm water drains in the city, which recently caused flooding in many parts of the city, the bench was informed that a performance audit of management of stormwater drains in Bengaluru Urban area had been conducted, and the report had been conducted and submitted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India; admittedly, BBMP had received the report.

The civic body gave the court its assurance that the BBMP will form a committee of three officials to carry out the proposal included in the report provided by the CAG. "The team of officers shall make a report to this court with regards to steps taken for execution of measures proposed by CAG," the bench instructed.

Furthermore, it was said that there were 2626 encroachments on storm water drains, 2024 of which have been removed, and 602 of which are still present but are being cleared daily. The court subsequently issued the following order: "BBMP to remove 602 encroachments and file a compliance report before this court once in a fortnight." The bench also made it clear that no authority could conduct a parallel investigation or issue orders pertaining to the problems at hand in this lawsuit. It goes without saying that all authorities must abide by the judgments of this court. Furthermore, it is made plain that any deviation from or disregard for the rules established by this court will be taken seriously.