With hours left for the deadline to expire, the BBMP continued with its cosmetic approach to fill potholes in the city. Also, confusion prevailed over “pending” potholes.
Last week, the Karnataka High Court had extended its deadline (earlier set for Thursday) to fill potholes, after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike counsel sought three more days. “By Monday (September 24)”, the roads in the city should be free of potholes.
Mayor R Sampath Raj said, “80% of potholes have been filled by Sunday. I have directed the officials to fill the remaining by Monday morning.”
Sources in BBMP, however, said they had received numbers from all the zones indicating “zero potholes”, which was not accepted by higher-ups. “It sounds too good to be true,” a source said. Only the Road Infrastructure Division, which takes care of major roads and flyovers, showed 67 potholes, which would be filled by Monday morning.
Officials said the numbers pertain only to the core area and they have not repaired roads in 110 villages added to the Palike recently. Another 200 km of roads taken up for white-topping has also been excluded. Citizens said the cold mix and stones with mud used to fill potholes were of no use. Prakash, a commuter from Dasarahalli, said the BBMP was just fooling the court.
DH also visited a few roads near Ramakrishna Ashram, Basavanagudi, Chamarajpet, Dasarahalli, Hombegowda Nagar, Langford Town on Sunday evening where many potholes remained.