By Qamar ZJ
Frustrated with bad roads and potholes in Bengaluru? The Karnataka High Court has come to your rescue, thanks to a public interest litigation (PIL) by concerned citizens. All you have to do is to use this nifty WhatsApp chatbot and register your complaints. The easy steps are shown visually in the video below. Just click on the image and you will be able to do it in a few steps. Remember to have a pucture of the pothole and road handy.
If you want to make the city pothole-free and pedestrian-friendly, this is a small step you can take to make it beautiful again. Every report will be noted by the court and proper systems will be put in place to address your complaint. Therefore, this is a golden opportunity for you to fix bad roads that have been lying unattended for many months and years.
The process
The Solve Ninja chatbot on WhatsApp allows you to report footpath and road pothole issues. Just click this link and you are good to go. You have time till January 30, 2021 to report the issues in your neighbourhood. Make sure you share this article, so everyone can be benefitted. Identify the location, and share the photograph of the bad road or pothole, and the job is done.
The background
A PIL (WP42927/2015) was filed in 2015 about the bad state of roads and footpaths in the city. On December 17, 2020, the Karnataka High Court directed Karnataka State Law Services Association (KSLSA) to do an independent verification of the quality of Bengaluru’s roads and footpaths.
Therefore, the petitioners and the KSLSA need the help of citizens to get all the information about unusable roads and footpaths in the city. “Your responses will help the High Court decide its next set of actions on BBMP,” states the chatbot as a preliminary information to the citizen. “We have to provide enough proof of good or poor roads to the KSLSA by the 30th of this month. They will ensure your anonymity and forward the information as a report to the High Court.”
Ward Committees can play a big role here
Based on the PIL, the court’s interim order dated 31/07/2019 had three game-changer orders that laid more emphasis on the Ward Committees for constant supervision:
Section 27: The Ward Committees must monitor the work of maintenance and repair of the roads. The Ward Committees will have to monitor implementation of the conditions imposed on various entities while granting permission to carry out digging work and it is the responsibility of the Ward Committees to immediately take up the matter with the BBMP, if the roads are not repaired or not maintained in reasonably good condition.
Section 29 (iii): We direct the Ward Committees established under Section 13-H of the said Act of 1976 to ensure that regular inspection of the public streets within its jurisdiction is taken firstly, for ascertaining whether the streets require repairs due to the presence of potholes or otherwise, and also for monitoring the works of repairs to the streets which are in progress within the jurisdiction of the respective wards. It shall be the duty of the Ward Committees to also ascertain whether various entities which have been permitted by the BBMP to lay pipelines/cables comply with the condition imposed on them to restore the roads to its original condition. It shall be also the responsibility of the Ward Committees to asce…
Section 29 (v): The Ward Committees shall submit monthly reports on the conditions of public streets within its jurisdiction in the Office of the Municipal Commissioner within a period of five days from the end of each calendar month and immediate action shall be taken by the authorities of the BBMP on the basis of the said reports. Such reports shall be placed on the record of this Court along with the status report to be submitted by the BBMP from time to time.
Says Bellandur resident Nagesh Aras: “So far, such problems languished for years, and some token/sporadic work was rarely undertaken by the BBMP. Worse, the credit for that was immediately given to the corporator or MLA as proof of their “leadership”. Now this judgment makes it a hygiene factor, instead of a ‘wow’ factor.”
