Cops do civic duty

V.V. Puram Traffic Police fix a huge pothole at RUB near Metagalli Outer Ring Road

Mysuru: V.V. Puram Traffic Police in the city have come under praise for stepping into the shoes of civic officials, for the good of road users. They have temporarily fixed a huge pothole at Road Under Bridge (RUB) on the newly built service road connecting Metagalli Outer Ring Road (ORR) near Hotel Royal Inn Junction in city.

Following the works on building the RUB, the road below had developed a gap at a place, gradually resulting in the pothole. While the works on RUB are partially completed, the vehicular traffic is moving as usual.  As a precaution, the Police filled the pothole with debris, to enable smooth traffic movement.

ACP (Traffic) Shivashankar said, the Police Department has already written to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), State Highways and the local bodies concerned. However, response of the competent authorities is timid. Hence, the Police have resorted to temporary measure, despite not getting any grants for carrying out the works.

Of late, social media has become a powerful medium of communication, with some using the same to highlight civic issues.

Anything related to basic infrastructural facilities like road, streetlights, drinking water to name a few, they are captured both in photo and video formats and posted on social media, tagging the link to DGP and  IGP, Municipal Commissioners and other competent authorities. Waking up to the situation, higher authorities are passing down instructions to their juniors, with the Police personnel too not spared from getting into action.

Though it is the primary duty of City Corporations and Urban Local Bodies to lay a road, including its maintenance, the Police have been stepping in, in the interest of people.

It has become common to spot such potholes on various roads, with the roads being dug up to lay electric cables by Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) Limited and direct to home piped natural gas project. With monsoon entering the district, the situation may aggravate, whenever the rainwater accumulates in the potholes, catching the vehicle riders off guard, ending up in fatal or non-fatal accidents.