Caution: Crater ahead! Bengaluru’s streets in a state of disrepair

Bengaluru: Commuting in Bengaluru has become nothing short of a nightmare after the recent rains took a significant toll on the city’s roads. It is even worse in the night. Pothole-filled streets have become a common sight, even though the BBMP had resurfaced over a thousand kilometres of roads ahead of the assembly and parliament elections. Only the white-topped roads remain largely intact.

In the last few days, DH did a reality check of the status of pothole-filling in the city and traversed the high-density corridors, including the Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, Mysore Road, Hosur Road, and Old Madras Road, to assess the difficulties faced by the commuters. Even during non-peak hours, navigating these rain-damaged roads proved to be an arduous task.

Motorists encounter large, crater-like potholes every 100 metres on the service roads of ORR while the main carriageway was more or less in good shape. Approximately a 5-km stretch of Bannerghatta Road (between Vega City Mall and Royal Meenakshi Mall) has been dug up for BWSSB work and a traffic police officer was spotted trying to repair the damaged area with concrete.

A ride along the Hosa Road was no different.  With numerous potholes, this section of the road is barely motorable. It has reportedly been dug up for laying the Cauvery Phase 5 pipeline. A BBMP tractor was seen pouring wet concrete mix to make the stretch passable. The section of Sarjapur Road leading to Outer Ring Road is also riddled with potholes, clearly endangering the lives of motorists.

Beyond the roads frequented by VVIPs, many roads in core Bengaluru are in dire condition, including Swami Vivekananda Road, the bus terminal in Majestic, and Global Village Road in RR Nagar. The outskirts, home to tech, pharmaceutical, and multinational companies, are even worse off.

“Driving on the link road between Jigani and Bommasandra can be fatal. The road is full of craters and it becomes pitch dark after sunset, with no functional streetlights. The stretch is beyond repair and life-threatening. I’ve seen vehicle axles break, yet there’s little urgency to fix it,” said Deepak H, a resident of the area.

Constituencies like Mahadevapura and KR Puram have many roads that barely qualify as such, but their issues have not reached the authorities. Shoddy work may have been the reason as these segments were never short of funds. 

BBMP’s engineer-in-chief, B S Prahlad, announced plans to visit all zones to evaluate the road conditions alongside executive and zonal engineers.

The civic body is counting on a grant of Rs 669 crore and has developed an action plan for its use. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath noted that these funds will resurface 459 kilometers of roads which are not under defect liability or included in the white-topping project.

“Since nearly all constituencies are compiling their lists, the action plan was delayed. We will seek administrative clearance soon,” h said.

Walton Road near Lavelle Road wears a bumpy broken look.

Cut-off box - City’s deadly stretches
l Hosa Road l Swami Vivekananda Road
l Bus terminal in Majestic
l Global Village Road in RR Nagar
l Bannerghatta Road l Lavelle Road
l Horamavu-Agara Road
l Hennur-Bagalur Road
l Dodda Banaswadi Main Road
l Panathur- Balagere Road
l RT Nagar Main Road l Jakkur road
l Magadi Road l Jalahalli road

Cut-off box - BBMP’s tall promise
The Palike is aiming to secure a grant of Rs 669 crore to resurface 459 kilometres of roads that are neither under defect liability nor covered by the white-topping project.