By K.B. Ganapathy, Editor-in-Chief

Last evening I was delighted to read Star of Mysore because of its lead story titled “City Corporations must pay for pothole victims: HC.” In jurisprudence, there is a legal principle which talks about crime and punishment. If a crime or a wrong is not punished, one will continue to  commit the crime or function in a lacklustre manner.

Even in developing countries, pothole fixing and the open or covered shoulder channels of the road along with drainage (UGD) is attended to on emergency basis. To execute this kind of road works, they use special purpose equipment, including what can be called ‘Baby Road Rollers.’

Even the concrete mixture is prepared on the spot by a special kind of machine that trails the Baby Road Roller.  It was like quick fix. But there is quality in the work.

As far as cleaning the drains, one must see the operation to believe it. Not only they remove accumulated muck, they also fumigate with a special machine wherever they find it necessary. 

In our city, even when such machines are procured at tax-payers’ money it may or may not be used at all for whatever reason and then if you visited the MCC junk yard you would be heart-broken to see such a useful, effective and costly machines being destroyed as scrap. Once I asked a friendly Commissioner why our Pourakarmikas are not provided with proper work-man’s dress — shoes, gloves, head-cover, mask etc. He said, “We do. But what can we do if they prefer to work with bare hands…” Remember, the donated Ambulances lying unused but parked in K.R. Hospital premises?

In the light of this, we should welcome the decision of the Karnataka High Court and hope the authorities will not go in appeal challenging the High Court’s order which is the usual official approach to such adverse decisions touching upon the incompetence and dereliction of duty on the part of the City Corporations; here in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC).