This is definitely not the first time Bengaluru has received rain and yet the BBMP learns nothing from past experience. The reappearance of potholes on major roads in the city is testimony to that. Although aware that roads built or repaired during the rainy season don’t have a long life, the civic agency makes the same mistake every year. Committing a huge blunder, it issues tenders to asphalt roads during the monsoon when this should be done either before or afterwards.
One of the main reasons that the asphalt wears off is stagnation of water on the roads. But with the BBMP doing little to keep the shoulder drains clear, the rain water cannot drain out. And even if the shoulder drains are clear, the storm water drains are not. The SWD network is meant to carry rain water from impervious structures such as roads and pavements into a nearby lake, but it hardly fulfills this function in the city. You don’t find even one storm water drain in Bengaluru performing the role it is meant for as they all are filled with garbage, sewage and other filth.
The steady rain has also exposed the shoddy work done by the BBMP as major roads in the city, especially in East Bengaluru, are filled with potholes already. When public money is being spent on asphalting roads and filling potholes, the BBMP needs to be careful how it goes about things and also learn to be accountable. People too need to be proactive and question it and public representatives if road work is carried out in the rainy season. After all, it is their hard earned money that is going down the drain due to the poor planning.
The writer is President of Citizens' Action Forum
