Just 12 days after Bangalore Mirror front-paged a story (‘Seven-year ditch’) on an ugly pothole marring the appearance of the city’s showpiece MG Road, the pothole, which was smoothened over post-haste after our report, has resurfaced.
The BBMP is washing its hands of any obligation to repair the pothole a second time. It says it is the duty of the Metro to do the job.
BBMP east zone joint commissioner K S Venkateshappa said, “After it was reported in Bangalore Mirror, our officials immediately filled up the pothole. But it is not our responsibility to take care of potholes along the Metro stretch. We repaired it because people will point fingers at BBMP, but why doesn’t the Metro take a call on it? The culprit is the Metro viaduct above the pothole. Rain water falls copiously at that point and has undone the repairs to the pothole. We repaired it once; now it is the Metro’s job.”
BMRCL’s chief PRO Yashavanth Chavan admitted that it was the Metro’s responsibility. He said, “We are looking into why water is falling from the viaduct on MG Road and are seeking a technical solution to the problem. BMRCL is a public service provider and we will take care of the pothole.”
Bangalore Traders Association (M G Road) president Bhoopalam Srinath has squarely blamed BMRCL for the existence of the pothole on MG Road. “The pothole developed after water from the viaduct parapet hit the road below with a huge impact during the rains,” he said.
BBMP’s superintendent engineer (road infrastructure) K T Nagaraj said, “It is the responsibility of Metro officials to take up pothole-filling work.”
Initially, BBMP had planned to take up white-topping (concretising) work on the seven-km stretch from Anil Kumble Circle to Byappanahalli at a cost of Rs 111 crore. But its cash-strapped condition forced the civic body to hand over the project to BMRCL. "We will pay our 50 per cent share; now it is their responsibility to take up the white-topping work," Nagaraj said.
