Taxpayer money goes down potholes as Bengaluru civic agencies lack coordination

Bengaluru: A lack of coordination between civic agencies is proving to be a major impediment for Bengaluru's development. It has now become a financial burden for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which has spent crores of rupees on just fixing potholes every year.

This has been a cause of worry for BBMP, which is struggling for resource mobilization. The lack of coordination among the various departments including Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board, BBMP, BESCOM and Metro, Smart City project is increasing the financial burden year after year.

Due to lack of coordination, Rs 215 crore has been spent over the last five years to fix the pothole-ridden roads of the capital city alone. In addition, various private OFC cable companies are only adding to the woes of the city by digging the road. In spite of this huge spending, the number of potholes continues to increase. The High Court has also expressed a concern over the lack of coordination between BBMP, Bescom and BWSSB.

There was a senior-level coordination meeting held every 15 days between various departments, including BBMP, BWSSB, Bescom and Metro, Smart City Project. At times either the Chief Minister or the Minister in charge of Bengaluru would participate in the meeting. Even the absence of the chief minister or the in-charge minister did not prevent discussions on coordination in the presence of senior government officials.

However, a senior official of the department said that for the past three years there has been no coordination meeting of various departments. They say that the financial burden on the BBMP can be reduced if a coordination meeting is held every 15 days on various departmental works.

Blame game is common among various civic arms if anything happens. For instance, the BBMP washed it hands of the recent pothole accident incident in Yelhanka zone. BBMP officials had clarified that the incident took place due to a BWSSB work. However, the BWSSB refused to accept the responsibility. BBMP officials had stated that the government entrusted the maintenance of the road to BMRCL. However, BMRCL clarified that it had nothing to do with maintenance of the road. A few days ago, a KSRTC bus in a bid to avoid a pothole rammed into a metro pillar in Mysore road, resulting injuries to 28 passengers. This underlined the adverse impact of lack of coordination among civic agencies.

Every year, the BBMP is spending crores of rupees on repairing the city's potholes. In 2017-18, the BBMP spent about Rs 147.8 crore, about Rs 49.2 crore in 2018-19 and about Rs 54.8 crore in 2019-2020. Similarly, the BBMP spent Rs 16.4 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 47 crore in 2021-22 to close the potholes.

8,000 potholes identified

After the High Court's strong warning on the issue of potholes, the BBMP is getting ready to close all the potholes in the city. 'Fix My Street App' has been developed to help identify and close potholes.

"About 8,000 potholes have already been found in the city," said Tushar Girinath, BBMP Chief Commissioner. It was also said that the public can provide information on where ever the potholes are seen. However, the hanging of the BBMP website the public information cannot be consolidated, he said.

He added, I already have experience in many departments, including the BWSSB. When it comes to the development of Bengaluru City, I will work along with Bescom, BWSSB, Smarty City Project and the Police Department. I put more emphasis on operating with coordination.