Bengaluru, 7 October

Simply pouring tar into potholes does not fix them, Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda scolded officials on Saturday. 

During an inspection of KR Pura, Gowda directed officials to stop merely covering damaged stretches with a thin layer of tar and instead cut out the affected sections, patch them properly and lay asphalt to ensure lasting repairs.

“Box cutting a must,” he said, saying potholes must be repaired must be repaired in a scientific manner. 

Box cutting is a technique whereby workers cut neat, straight lines around a damaged portion of a road when repairing the stretch. 

He told officials that when fixing potholes, they must remove the damaged portion, including concrete, ensure that the base of the road is sound, and then lay asphalt and commence other repair works. 

‘WARD ONE’ PHASE 2 BEGINS

Gowda had also kicked off the second phase of the Greater Bengaluru Authority’s ‘Ward One campaign. In the second phase, 40 wards across the City will be covered, including six under the Central Corporation, eight under East, 10 under West, seven under North and nine under South Corporation.

The selected wards span several key neighbourhoods across Bengaluru, including Kodihalli, Dommaluru, Sheshadripuram, Bharathinagara, Kanakanapalya, Belathuru, Kundalahalli, Bellanduru, Nagasandra, Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, Vijayanagar, Basavanagudi, Vidyaranyapura, Yelahanka, Hebbal, Jayanagar, HSR Layout, Bommanahalli and BTM Layout, among others.

Phase one of the campaign was launched on 31 October, covering 43 select wards. Under the campaign, officials will prioritise fixing roads, sanitation, cleaning garbage, and fixing infrastructure in a particular ward.