AAP blamed the government and the civic authorities for the poor condition of roads in the city. Also, BBMP and BWSSB blame each other.
Aap Aadmi Party members performed a pooja at the seven feet sinkhole on Kensington Road toady. The AAP was protesting the state of the city’s roads and the indifference of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and what they called the failures of the Congress government in the state.
The temporarily fixed sinkhole in Kensington Road is still open to all vehicles to pass on. The seven feet deep sinkhole is sealed with stones and sand by The Burhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in the morning.
Bheemappa M.N, a traffic police inspector from Halasuru police station said that the BBMP worked on the pothole overnight by covering it with sand and stone chunks.
BBMP and BWSSB officials, however, were blaming each other for the incident and demanded the other party to be held responsible.
Shreyas, a BBMP worker at the site said, “The road has two drains on either side. Due to heavy rains, the water remains stagnant at the junction. Vehicles constantly passing through these roads made it worse.”
BWSSB officials said Mahesh, an executive engineer from Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) said, “We are supposed to be informed by the BBMP for any kind of concern as timely checks are done by them to check if any damage has happened.”
Dikshith Murali, another BBMP worker said, “This is a temporary fix we will be covering it with white cement in a few days.”
Vijaya, an auto driver said that Halasuru has never had such problems in the past with regards to road infrastructure but water overflowing in certain drainage areas have been consistent.”
The political episode at the site of sinkhole today saw allegations from the AAP on BBMP and the state government. AAP also called for help from other parties to stand against these problems so that things can be better.
Mohan Desai, Organising Secretary of Karnataka of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) asked, “Where have the crores of rupees allocated for the repair of potholes in the city gone? The government has taken money in the name of filling the potholes with black topping and white topping but the material they use is cheap and washes away in no time,” he alleged.
Vikram Bhatt, a principle architect and urban designer said, “a pothole needs more than just sand or stone to keep it sturdy even if it’s a temporary fix for road clearance. Any road can have potholes, however, if a road that has a drainage pipe connection near or under it, it can be prone to deep sinkholes like on the Kensington road.” He added, “It needs proper cementing such that it won’t happen again.”
K. Nitika Shivani and Vandana Batra contributed to this story, Lovely Tyagi edited it.
