Potholes Even On Road That Has PM's House: Minister's Crazy Defense Of Bangalore Potholes
The condition of roads in India is pathetic, to say the least. However, instead of fixing the roads, the state and central governments keep blaming others or show each other as a worse example. Recently, DK Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, in a similar manner, gave a bold defence for the condition of pothole-filled roads in Bengaluru and other parts of the state. He said that he recently toured Delhi and pointed out that there are potholes even on PM Narendra Modi's residence road.
During a media interaction, DK Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, highlighted that he recently went to Delhi and toured the city. As a result, he noted that even the road leading to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence on 7 Lok Kalyan Marg has potholes. He added that other roads of the capital were also filled with potholes.
He stated, “I want to tell big IT companies these potholes are everywhere. But we have to do our duty to close them. This is the system across India. The media is showcasing it as only Karnataka. Why would roads be this way if BJP could have done it better?”
With these statements, the deputy chief minister tried to normalise the problem of Indian roads having potholes. Prior to this, he recently gave another bold statement where he indirectly replied to the Blackbuck CEO, who complained about potholes on the roads. Shivakumar stated, “Threatening or blackmailing us (the government) is up to them (corporates). We are not bothered about it. We are doing our job.”
In order to counter the criticism of the condition of Indian roads, DK Shivakumar stated that the civic teams across Bengaluru City are filling thousands of potholes every day despite rains. He added that all of the contractors have been given a final deadline until November to finish all pothole-filling works. Additionally, the deputy CM announced a Rs 1,100 crore fund for road repair and fresh road construction.
This statement, according to netizens, is a reply to the recent criticism of Bengaluru by the Union Minister of Heavy Industries of the Government of India, H.D. Kumaraswamy. While recently visiting Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy branded Bengaluru as the “city of potholes,” which was said to embarrass Congress-led Karnataka.
The problem of potholes on Indian roads is so severe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also recently had to drive over pothole-filled roads. During his recent visit to Gujarat, PM Modi had to travel by road from Lothal to Gandhinagar after bad weather grounded his helicopter. However, during this drive, he had to endure the potholes on the road.
A video went viral online in which PM Modi's convoy, consisting of numerous bulletproof Toyota Fortuners, Toyota Innovas, and other vehicles, had to pass through waterlogged roads filled with potholes. His convoy, which generally drives at high speeds due to security, had to slow down on multiple occasions. Many pointed out that it is a huge security risk. Whether any action has been taken by authorities in Gujarat has not been reported.