Ambika bhardwaj
Published On: January 28, 2022 at 17:08 IST
On Thursday, Karnataka High Court in the Case of Vijayan Menon v. Secretary and Anr warned Chief Engineer of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) about the repair of pothole-ridden roads in Bengaluru.
A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Suraj Govindaraj held that a Compliance Report lodged by the BBMP on pothole filling was a pretence. It was further mentioned that the Chief Engineer should be put in Prison for the current state of roads in the city.
The Chief Justice said “We are worried as why potholes form across the city after it rains. What kind of technology do you utilise? What method have you been using? This demonstrates the work’s quality”.
The Court then asked for personal presence of the Chief Engineer for the next hearing on February 7.
A Writ Petition that was lodged in 2015, in response to four deaths caused by accidents on city roads was heard by the Court. Senior Advocate SR Anuradha, who appeared for the Petitioners asked the BBMP to submit a report on technology and procedure for pothole filling.
According to the BBMP report, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), and GAIL have dug and inserted pipelines in roads, causing distress on roads and the development of more potholes. Further, the report stated that the repair work has to be completed by these agencies, who have not done so within the time frame specified.
The Court asserted that there should be some sort of policy for cooperation between the BBMP and the agencies that are allowed to dig up roads for specific purposes.
Hence, the Bench ordered the BBMP’s Chief Engineer to appear in court on the next scheduled hearing date which is February 7.