Last week, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was quoted as saying that potholes don’t cause deaths, rather it is ‘rash driving’ that causes fatalities on Bengaluru’s roads. It’s not just strange for a chief minister of a state to be making such a statement, it is also indicative of the sad state of our politics and politicians.
On the contrary, Mr. Chief Minister, the statement shows either a total lack of understanding on your part or a callous indifference towards the safety of people in Bengaluru, or perhaps both.
Worse, it also seems to be a shared opinion among senior ministers of the Siddaramaiah government. About a month ago, Bengaluru in-charge minister K.J. George said much the same thing about road accidents. This gives rise to the feeling that the present government is basically not interested in understanding and solving the problems of Bengaluru.
Any road ridden with potholes, as a majority of the city’s roads are, is most definitely a death trap for citizens, especially two-wheeler riders. This is no rocket science but mere common sense.
Therefore, instead of trying to pass the buck and evade responsibility, it will be better if Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. George make an earnest attempt to understand why in the first place potholes appear on our roads even after they are given a new coat of asphalting periodically.
Even this is not rocket science but mere common sense. Potholes form because works undertaken by the BBMP are executed in the shoddiest manner possible. They do not undertake works to make them better and safer, but so that they can siphon off public money from these contracts.
It is known that at least 40 per cent of the money involved in a contract is siphoned off and this booty is shared between politicians, contractors and bureaucrats. Under such circumstances, how can we expect good quality work.
But, the time has come for our politicians to realize that they are not doling money out of their pockets for these works but are playing with public money and public safety. The sooner they subject themselves to accountability, the better it is for all. Wasting nearly half of all public money is an act of criminality.
The people are watching what’s happening. Their patience is wearing thin.
(N.S. Mukunda is founding president, Citizen Action Forum)
