Smooth operators

If you’ve been dreading the potholes in the city, there may be some good news and some resolutions to the death traps on the road.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has joined hands with Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) to get information on the location of potholes.

“It will not only help the BBMP engineers to reach the location quickly but also fill up the potholes without any delay. All these years, we used to assign the BBMP ward engineers to get information on the potholes. But we have found our tie-up with the BTP very useful,’’ said BBMP Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure) B S Prahlad.

It may be recalled that Gaurav Gupta, BBMP Administrator, while addressing the BBMP engineers on December 28, had fixed a 10-day deadline for filling up potholes on the city roads. Gupta directed the BBMP engineers to take two vehicle loads of hot mix to each of the eight zones every day to fill up potholes.

BBMP sources said the traffic police had identified 6,664 potholes on various roads in the city. “We have filled up around 5,000 potholes till date and we will fill up the remaining potholes soon. I have directed the engineers to upload geo-tagged photos, before and after filling up the potholes.

This method is aimed at making BBMP engineers accountable,’’ Prahlad said.

Bangalore East Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Kavitha Kariyappa said that traffic police have shared information on the potholes in Bengaluru East with the BBMP authorities. “I am very happy Bangalore Traffic Police with the BBMP’s response in filling up potholes. Many potholes were filled up in Bengaluru East. This initiative is helping to facilitate smooth movement of vehicles,’’ said Kavitha Kariyappa.

The ACP said that traffic police have also sent information on road humps and zebra crossings that badly need to be painted for the benefit of motorists and pedestrians. “Painting of road humps and zebra crossings is yet to begin. Most of the accidents in Bengaluru East happen because of lack of awareness of road humps,’’ she said.

Expressing similar opinion, Bengaluru Central Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satish said many potholes were filled up by the BBMP recently. “The traffic police are instructed to send geo-tagged photos of potholes to the BBMP authorities. Majority of potholes are filled up in Bengaluru Central,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Avinash Gowda, a resident of Kalkere in Ramamurthy Nagar, begs to differ with the Bangalore Traffic Police and the BBMP authorities on the number of potholes found in the city.

“The number of potholes will be between 20,000 and 30,000 if the traffic police spend some time on locating the potholes in their respective jurisdictions. For example, there are many roads full of potholes in Ramamurthy Nagar and KR Puram. If the BBMP authorities ensure quality in road asphalting, there will be no potholes on the city roads. Many potholes are filled haphazardly,’’ said Avinash Gowda.

Arun Prasad, a social activist from Wilson Garden, said there are potholes on the roads at Wilson Garden and adjacent areas. “The BBMP is yet to fill up potholes on cross roads in residential areas,’’ Prasad said.