Potholes: High Court warns Bengaluru civic officials of contempt proceedings

The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday warned Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials of contempt proceedings if orders of the court on filling up potholes in the city were not followed The court was hearing petitions against the civic agency for failing to eliminate potholes. It observed that despite the onset of the monsoon, the BBMP has failed to fill the potholes and there was a need for strict action against its officers. The BBMP has failed to complete filling up the potholes despite the court granting repeated deadlines, the High Court said adding that it would no longer accept the BBMP’s excuses on the issue.

Advocate for BBMP sought time till June 6 and submitted that there was a dispute regarding the cost of filling potholes, which was being resolved and the advice of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was being sought. The court ordered positive action from the BBMP and adjourned the hearing to June 6. The petition dates back to 2015 and various civic agencies including BDA, BESCOM, and BMRCL are also respondents. During the hearing of the petition on Tuesday, the advocate for American Road Technology Solutions, one of the respondents, submitted that the chief engineer of BBMP BS Prahlad punched and assaulted the company’s managing director during a meeting. The company told the court that the firm has given a complaint to the BBMP commissioner over the assault. The court was also told that bills pertaining to the filling of potholes were not yet paid to the company.

The court has asked for the BBMP Commissioner to file an action taken report against the chief engineer.