Within a week: Siddaramaiah orders immediate pothole repairs across Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday instructed officials to ensure all potholes in the city are filled within a week, reinforcing his previous directive setting a 31 October deadline for repairs across Bengaluru’s five corporation limits.

“I was speaking to officials, including Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority Maheshwar Rao and Additional Chief Secretary to the Government, Urban Development Department Tushar Girinath. Within a week, potholes should be filled,” the Chief Minister said.

The directive comes amid widespread complaints from citizens over deteriorating road conditions, exacerbated by recent heavy rainfall.

“Because of the rains, there have been delays in filling potholes; that's the issue. There have been more rains this year,” Siddaramaiah explained while addressing a gathering at an event in the Gandhinagar Assembly constituency.

The Chief Minister was speaking after flagging off a series of infrastructure projects aimed at the comprehensive development of roads in the city, including white-topping works. He emphasised that such long-term measures would help tackle the city’s recurring pothole problem.

“White-topping work is underway in various parts of the city,” he said, adding, “It would help reduce the pothole problem, as white-topped roads can last 25–30 years.”

“We will fill the potholes and also do white topping of roads in the city,” he reiterated.

Siddaramaiah also highlighted the government's focus on equitable development across Karnataka, stating that all MLAs—both ruling and opposition—are being allocated funds for constituency improvements.

“We want all-round development. The funds are being given to both urban and rural MLAs, also opposition MLAs,” he said, noting that Rs 8,000 crore has been allocated in the state budget for this purpose.

Videos circulating in social media showing the extent of the damage

Recently, online trucking platform BlackBuck had announced plans to shift its office out of Bellandur citing worsening traffic conditions and poor road infrastructure in one of the city’s key IT corridors.