BENGALURU: The next time your pizza reaches a full hour late, don’t blame it on the delivery boy. It’s the pothole ridden road to your house which has made your pizza turn icy cold.
For those who though potholes and pizzas are as unrelated as vadas and vanity bags, think twice. Every road in Bengaluru is scarred by potholes, some a foot deep, others resembling the moon’s craters. No delivery boy would like to take a tumble in one of them and come up with a crushed pizza-so each is taking 50 minutes to cover a distance of 5 km and deliver an online order.
At Bhukh Mitao, an online food delivery service, the proprieter admitted, “Delivery is a big challenge. Our kitchen is at HSR Layout, to deliver in Koramangala, it used to take just 15 minutes, Now it is a full 45 minutes. The only way out is to hire more delivery boys and expand our kitchen in other places.”
An employee at Fresh Menu, another online food service, concurs and adds, “We are trying tie-ups with agencies that provide delivery boys.”
Nimi Josy, who works in a real estate firm at Koramangala and depends on online food, says, “It’s a blessing for many stuck in office as the food is fresh. But they are becoming awfully late nowadays.”
City roads dotted with craters
Although the pothole filling drive commenced from Thursday night after the rains have completely stopped, citizens of Bengaluru are not quite happy with the pace of work.
Mayor Manjunath Reddy told DC that a detailed plan has been drawn to fill potholes across the city to provide smooth ride, but he was worried about the weather forecast which predicts yet another spell of rains.
Mr. Reddy said that the BBMP was keeping its fingers crossed for dry weather to fill all the potholes. The longevity of the covered pothole cannot be ensured unless the weather is dry for pothole filling.
Potholes on all arterial, sub-arterial and major roads will be covered during night time to avoid inconvenience to public while interior roads will be tackled during the day. All the engineers have been directed to draw plan of action at all the eight zones and fill potholes. Those roads which have been battered have been directed to be attended on priority, said Mr. Reddy.
Mysore road, Maha Kavi Kuvempu Road and some other major roads have been given priority.
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