Traffic cops fill in for a tardy BBMP

Driving on Old Madras Road from Ulsoor, especially the 7.6-km stretch between Binnamangala and K R Puram, is fraught with risks. The thoroughfare is pockmarked with potholesturned-craters, With civic authorities looking the other way, Indiranagar and Ulsoor traffic police have decided to fill these pits with debris, a temporary measure to prevent accidents and ease traffic flow.
Says Indiranagar resident and entrepreneur R N Hegde who takes this road daily: "Potholes take you unawares and they create bottlenecks all along the stretch. A drive in the morning is enough to drain one's energy. The road was this bad in July as well. BBMP's pot hole-filling work was so shoddy that the broken roads were back in no time." Dr Ajith Benedict Rayan, vice-president of Hosmat Hospital agrees: "Overall, there is a 15% increase in accidents on the road, thanks to these huge craters." Prominent citizens have been making representations to BBMP to fix the road, a prominent link between the central business district (CBD) and IT hub Whitefield. R K Misra, member of BBMP's technical advisory committee (TAC), says he took up the matter with jurisdictional officers but in vain.
According to Misra, Beniganahalli bridge and Byappanahalli, in particular, have huge craters, giving the impression that one is travelling back of the beyond. In his written complaint to the chief engineer of major roads in the Palike, Misra said: "Poor traffic constables are spotted filling debris into the potholes and craters on Old Madras Road to make it motorable ... These potholes are not due to BWSSB's digging work. It's BBMP's lousy work; they asphalt roads without clearing shoulder drains. The entire stretch is flooded every day. Shouldn't we be ashamed as engineers for doing such a callous job?"