Fill potholes, desilt drains on war footing: KJ George

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George held a review meeting here on Saturday to discuss the problems faced by the city due heavy rains over the past few days.

He directed Mayor Sampath Raj and BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad to fix potholes and remove silt from drains on a war footing. It should be noted that the BBMP had expressed reluctance to take up pothole fixing work in a full-fledged manner due to incessant rains. The civic body had claimed that there are over 15,900 potholes in the city.

Addressing officials at the meet, Mr George said, "Incessant rains have created lot of potholes in the city. Take up pothole filling works on a war footing. Also desilt the drains."

He also advised officials to mandatorily take pictures of the condition of roads and drains before and after completion of work.

Road history data
BBMP Commissioner apprised the minister about road history data recorded on the BBMP website. He said, "Road history live data related to 91,000 roads in the city and ongoing works taken up by BBMP under various schemes have been uploaded on the website bbmp.gov.in for public view." 'Python' machine would be pressed into service to fix potholes scientifically. It will cover 300 km, Prasad added.

The public can also see details regarding BBMP’s health and revenue wings, Indira canteens and encroachment details, he said. Mr George directed Assistant Executive Engineers and Assistant Engineers to attend their ward offices everyday early and deploy workers for scheduled work. He also reviewed other works taken up in the city, including the ones taken up under Nagarothana scheme. He gave a deadline to Commissioner Manjunath Prasad to complete all the ongoing works by January.