GBA Chief orders urgent action as city misses CM’s pothole deadline

While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who also chairs the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), had pulled up engineers over pothole-ridden roads in September and set an October-end deadline to fix them, the city continues to struggle with uneven stretches.

With the deadline now past, GBA Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao on Monday issued strict instructions to officials to close all remaining potholes on priority.

At a review meeting held to discuss pothole filling, road-cutting permissions, and road surface restoration across the five city corporations in the limits of the GBA, Mr. Rao directed officials to give top priority to filling potholes on arterial, sub-arterial, and ward-level roads.

He said that even on stretches where white-topping works are under way, the contractors concerned must immediately repair any potholes that have appeared. If they fail to act promptly, the respective city corporation should fill the potholes and recover the cost from the contractor’s bills, he instructed. 

Mr. Rao directed senior officials of all city corporations to personally inspect the roads, identify damaged stretches, and take swift action to fill potholes. He stressed that pending potholes must be filled promptly while maintaining proper quality standards. 

Highlighting the status of ongoing road improvement works, the GBA Chief said ₹694 crore has already been released for the development of arterial and sub-arterial roads, with asphalting underway in most areas. He asked officials to complete the remaining works at the earliest. 

Under the Chief Minister’s Discretionary Fund, works worth ₹1,055 crore related to ward roads, drains, and infrastructure development have been approved. In addition, under the Special Infrastructure Capital Support Scheme, proposals worth ₹1,241.57 crore have been submitted for the asphalting of arterial, sub-arterial, and other major roads, taking the total value of pending works to about ₹2,296 crore.

Mr. Rao instructed officials to take immediate steps to implement these projects and commence work without delay. 

He also took note of unauthorised road-cutting being carried out by certain agencies and individuals and directed officials to initiate legal action against those responsible and to strictly regulate such activities. Until the MARCS portal, the system for road-cutting permissions, becomes fully operational, commissioners of all five city corporations must hold weekly meetings to monitor and approve permissions strictly as per procedure, he said. 

The Chief Commissioner further instructed that once any department completes its work involving road-cutting, it must restore the cut sections properly and with quality, ensuring the road surface is reinstated immediately.