Following widespread public frustration over the city’s crumbling streets, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah gave officials a strict, one-month deadline on Saturday to make all Bengaluru roads motorable. The CM’s directive came during a high-level meeting where he expressed strong displeasure with officials and questioned their lack of urgency in addressing the pothole crisis.
“Don’t you see the daily struggles of the public?” he reportedly asked, warning that “no lenient action” would be taken against officials who fail to properly maintain the roads. He specifically called out the ward and chief engineers, demanding that all roadworks be completed with high quality and scientific methods to ensure durability. “If they fail to do it in a scientific manner,
then the engineers will be held responsible,” he stated during a press conference after the meeting.
Inter-Departmental Collaboration and Financial Commitment
A key point of contention was the lack of coordination among different departments, including the BDA, BMRCL, and the Water Board. To address this, the chief minister emphasised the need for a unified effort and instructed the Chief Commissioner to hold weekly meetings with commissioners from the city’s five zones. A new technical coordination officer will also be appointed to ensure cooperation.
Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, who also oversees Bengaluru Urban Development, announced that the chief minister has promised an additional Rs 750 crore to be allocated for filling potholes. The CM assured officials that a lack of funds would not be an issue, stating that the government would release necessary funding from the Finance Department on a priority basis. A review of the progress will be conducted after the one-month deadline.
Pothole Count
According to data presented at the meeting, officials and the public have collectively identified 14,795 potholes across Bengaluru’s five municipal corporations. Of these, 6,749 have been filled, leaving 8,046 remaining to be addressed. The chief minister has mandated that all remaining potholes must be filled by the end of October.
In addition to pothole repairs, significant road development work is underway. 108.20 km of roads have been white-topped, with another 143.68 km in progress. Similarly, 401.63 km of roads have been re-asphalted, with 440.92 km more in progress. The city has initiated development work on a total of 584.60 km of roads. The government is also utilising new technology, with a 2.50 crore tender for a jetpatcher machine that can fill potholes even in wet conditions.
A separate Rs 400-crore Outer Ring Road development scheme is planned to redevelop key junctions damaged by water and metro work, including Iblur, Agara, Veerannapalya, Nagawara, and Hebbal. While acknowledging that potholes are common in cities nationwide, deputy CM Shivakumar noted that Bengaluru’s media freedom has led to more widespread public awareness and scrutiny of the issue.
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