The City of Potholes

Driving around the city will soon get to be a familiar yet disgusting experience. The roads have been widened and trees felled for the same but the true signs of development are far from visible.

The city has been short listed to evolve into what is termed as a Smart City but then we have never even understood the philosophy, haven’t we?

Smart cities are made of smart people and more importantly, responsible officers and public representatives.

Travel through the city and one realizes what havoc a minimal spell of rain has wrecked on the roads. The vast expanses of expensive tar are already in shambles. Water collects in these wonderfully shaped potholes and each hole seems to be competing with its neighbour in terms of both width and depth.

The road that has been half done at Tilakwadi, the stretch of road at the bus stop at Bogarves,the newly laid road at Bhagyanagar and many more are testimony to one simple fact; they just did not put their heads, heart and soul into it while they made the road. They just don’t care and we don’t care enough to make anyone accountable.

Shouldn’t there be a minimum guaranteed shelf life clause for every patch of road assigned?

If in over six decades of independance, we have as yet not learnt how to make one sincere effort to lay a good road, I wonder what the Smart City will bring apart from more monetary opportunities for the contractors and maybe even the public representatives.

The nightmare of driving in town continues. A few accidents will happen and a few bones broken and maybe even a fatal mishap but who the hell does care. For them,the makers, it is just business as usual. Make a road and make it again and keep making money while the public at large grumbles, complains and goes about with life as usual.

For all those who talk of tolerance, we Indians tolerate just about anything.

This is nothing new, it’s just the same old tale of good old Belagavi, ‘The City of Pot Holes’.