Bangalore: S N Rao, 50, a general manager in a private enterprise was trying to negotiate a pothole near Binny Mills on October 10. He didn’t succeed and the chassis of his Ford Figo went for a toss, leaving him with a Rs 12,000 bill at the garage.
Since then, Rao has taken up a unique campaign. He takes a camera along with him and whenever he sees a ‘deadly’ pothole, he clicks a picture and emails it to BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana and Mayor N Shantakumari.
Rao said, “Every time it rains, the roads develop potholes in no time and the worst sufferers are motorists. It has become increasingly difficult to drive vehicles especially cars, as we don’t know as to where the road is.”
Rao said the day after his accident, when he was walking near his house, also near Binny Mills, he was observing how car drivers were negotiating the potholes around. “Many of them were in the same state as I. I tried desperately to call BBMP officials, but no one seems to care. An official even said he could not see many potholes. S, I thought the best idea was to give photographic evidence.”
He got the idea to take pictures and post them from the city police. “I have seen how cops are carrying cameras these days to capture violators. I think BBMP is also a violator, so I am capturing images.”
The general manager has also counted the number of potholes on a small stretch of three kms on Magadi road. “I could see 56 potholes in that stretch.Why even M G Road, which is the pride of the city, is riddled with potholes on the Mayo Hall to Trinity circle stretch. Many laugh at my initiative saying that the BBMP will never take my photographic evidence seriously. But, all I know is that as a responsible citizen I have given the proof,” he said.
MAYOR PROMISES ACTION
BANGALORE MAYOR N Shantakumari said that she was receiving complaints on social sites and they were trying to attend on it. “My son is managing my Facebook account where we are getting complaints from citizens. We are trying to act on those which are possible to fix. I had a meeting with my officials on Tuesday morning and as complaints from the citizens are increasing, we decided to take up the potholes on major roads.”
