Fill potholes in 15 days: CM to BBMP

Team Udayavani, Oct 10, 2017, 8:25 AM IST

Bengaluru: After three deaths in a row on potholed roads and the BBMP missing several deadlines to complete repair works, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday promised to make Bengaluru “pothole-free” in a flat 15 days. 

Earlier, the chief minister inspected the spot near Nayandahalli where a 47-year-old woman fell off a bike while avoiding a pothole and was crushed to death by an oncoming truck on Sunday. Only on October 4, an elderly couple was killed in similar circumstances on BGS flyover on Mysuru road. 

Apparently stung by bad press, the civic body has decided to change its pothole filling strategy so that it can work non-stop even in rain. Instead of using hot bitumin mix, which is washed away in rain, it will from now on use cold mix. 

Addressing the media, the chief minister said: “We will fill the potholes using cold mix made up of bitumin emulsion and small jelly stones. Although the life of cold mix is not more than three months, the current situation demands this kind of action. We will asphalt the roads once rain stops.” The same cold mix will hold for more than a year in summer, he added.

From early September, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad had been promising to fill potholes within ten days to a fortnight. But nothing happened on ground. The city received record rainfall over the last 50-55 days.

“I have visited the place in Nayandahalli junction where the accident occurred and have instructed the officers to not only fill the potholes but also to repair the entire road. There will be no room for patchwork and this applies to all roads in the city,” said Siddaramaiah.

He said he has fixed responsibiiity on the executive engineers and strict action will be taken against defaulters. “I have asked Mayor R Sampath Raj to hold a meeting with all 198 corporators and Assistant Executive Engineers of each ward to kickstart the work,” he added.

The chief minister said he had also ordered Bangalore Metropolitan Rail Corporation to ensure good quality roads wherever Metro work was in progress.

Penalising contractors

Asked if contractors concerned would be penalised, Siddaramaiah said that would happen from now on. Before the inspection, Siddaramaiah held a meeting with senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, ministers K J George and Ramalinga Reddy, Mayor and top brass of BMRCL and BBMP.