The holes in the pothole scheme

By Sunil Raman BBC News, Bangalore

Over the last few years India's IT capital, Bangalore, has become notorious for its potholed roads and crumbling infrastructure.

Away from the heart of the city, asphalted roads turn into muddy stretches. Huge holes make driving hazardous as well as damaging vehicles.

The roads here have been in a broken state for years. The situation only worsens when it rains Lokesh Bangalore resident

So when the city corporation announced it would pay a reward of 100 rupees ($2.24) to anyone who spotted a pothole, they were flooded with calls.

It all seemed so simple: Spot a pothole, call the local municipal office and it would send an engineer to ascertain the claim, and once proven correct the caller could walk away with the reward.

Lokesh, who lived in the Ejipura district, less than a mile from the swanky five-star Leela Palace Hotel, was only too happy to participate.

"The roads here have been in a broken state for years. The situation only worsens when it rains. I thought finally the inefficient municipality officers were being held accountable," he said.

Unwritten rules

But his enthusiasm soon disappeared when he got to know the more detailed rules of the contest.

The municipal corporation said rewards will only apply to holes spotted in 142 designated stretches of road published in local dailies.

Even then, not every pothole can get a reward.

A pothole is a pothole only if it is 22cm (nine inches) long, 22cm wide and 5cm (two inches) deep.

Lokesh was furious when a voice at the other end refused to entertain his call.

"Imagine being told that the scheme does not cover potholes in my area. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt by an inefficient municipal corporation," he said.

Potholes have become a way of life in Bangalore

That is something denied by the chief engineer of Bangalore's East Zone, L Satyanarayana: "This is a good way to keep the local engineers alert and at the same time allow citizen's participation in improving city roads.

"Last October's heavy rains damaged many roads and their repair work is on. We will slowly expand the list of roads covered under the scheme. Around 40 more roads will be added next week."

All claims in the East Zone have to be verified by Mr Satyanarayana.

He said most of the calls are about potholes which are not part of the scheme.

Some people, he said, did try to get 100 rupees by digging up potholes which had already been repaired.

'Pot-holes part of life'

Residents of the upmarket Koramangala district have spent years trying to get their roads repaired.

The property prices in this residential suburb might have skyrocketed in the last few years but potholes have "become a part of life", according to local resident Kanchan Kaur.

She says some potholes are so conspicuous that residents use them to identify roads in the city.

The state government, courts and non-governmental organisations have all come up with different plans in the last few years to improve the roads.

IT and call centres are booming in Bangalore

The state government even suggested seeking foreign expertise.

Somehow no idea ever left the drawing board.

After much protest from the IT sector the municipal corporation hastily covered some potholes with loose soil.

But it was only a matter of days before the loose soil blew away to expose craters of all shapes and sizes.

Social activist YJ Rajendra says the "spot a pothole" scheme is biased against the have-nots as it has not been extended to the outer areas of Bangalore where people have to face the brunt of poor infrastructure.

He says there are 475 slums in the area covered by the scheme but the slum roads are not part of the scheme.