Bengaluru Minister questions city's pothole cycle, "is road-making rocket science"
text_fields
Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has questioned the city's approach to road maintenance, saying authorities should focus on preventing potholes rather than repeatedly repairing them.
Speaking to NDTV, Gowda said the recurring pothole problem points to deeper issues in the quality of public works.
"People ask, why are you not filling the potholes? I'm asking them, why do potholes arise at all?" he said. "Is road-making rocket science that we can't build a road that doesn't frequently develop potholes? Roads are made all over the world. It's not everywhere that potholes keep arising."
The minister said Bengaluru's administration has become trapped in a cycle of fixing recurring road damage instead of addressing the underlying causes.
"If we do substandard work, it leads to potholes, and then we are forever and ever in the business of filling potholes. It is like chasing your own tail," he said.
According to Gowda, potholes are a symptom of broader shortcomings in project execution and governance. He said better quality work could prevent many future problems.
Asked about improving road quality through technologies such as asphalt or white-topping, Gowda said the government already has systems in place, including quality control wings, chief engineers responsible for quality, and third-party audits.
"My broad and basic understanding is that all systems are in place in government," he said. "The job of people like us, sitting at the helm of responsibility, is to ensure that the system functions the way it ought to function."
The minister also addressed concerns he had previously raised about taking charge of the Bengaluru Development portfolio, noting that multiple agencies responsible for the city's infrastructure operate under different jurisdictions.
Describing Bengaluru as a "monumental challenge", Gowda said the city has struggled for decades to keep pace with rapid growth.
"Since the time of SM Krishna, we have been trying to play catch-up, but we have never caught up, and we are never ahead of the curve of problems," he said.
Gowda said he had conveyed his concerns to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress leadership but was asked to begin work while the issues were being examined.
Asked whether he was satisfied with the portfolio allocation, he said: "Public life is not something where all your wishes come true all the time. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't work. You have to take what is given in your stride and put your best foot forward."