GBA gets down to fixing potholes, waste management

BENGALURU: A meeting related to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) was held at the Vidhana Soudha conference hall under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by GBA Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, respective Corporation Commissioners, City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and several industrialists.

As per Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s instructions, the meeting discussed major issues plaguing Bengaluru, including potholes on roads, increasing traffic congestion and waste management. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw had expressed her frustration about these issues on social media, making this meeting particularly significant. The Chief Secretary’s meeting with officials and industry leaders was aimed at finding solutions to these problems.

Under fire for poor infra on tech corridor, Karnataka CS Shalini Rajneesh, who inspected ORR and other areas, tasked officials over the bad condition of roads and directed urgent repairs of rain-damaged infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/c3ztOombE3

— ChristinMathewPhilip (@ChristinMP_) September 19, 2025

After the GBA meeting, GBA adviser RK Misra said that the Chief Secretary held a review meeting. “There was discussion about potholes and good work is being done, but it’s not getting attention. There was also discussion about roads. The five-pillar initiative will bring about significant changes in Bengaluru. It is going to be a big change in the next month. There was discussion about road projects, contracts and ensuring work is completed on time. Pothole repair work will be done, and a 90-month roadmap has been laid out. October is the government’s month, and November will be about people’s responsibility. It is not right to throw garbage everywhere”, he said.

“There was also discussion about vehicle and traffic management, and measures are being taken for GBA’s development. High-density corridors, white-topping, and other initiatives, with around Rs 600 crores being spent on them were also discussed. Significant changes are expected in October and November”, Misra said.

There is also a plan to implement carpooling to solve traffic issues, similar to what’s being done in London and other cities. Discussion is under way about implementing carpooling on major roads in Bengaluru, and suggestions have been received, but no date has been fixed yet, Misra noted.

Misra said that there is a need for quality roads. “If quality tar is used, there won’t be any issues. This needs to be checked. There is a suggestion to use quality tar and ensure it is inspected. Not using quality tar is causing problems. If contractors don’t use quality tar in the future, action will be taken against them. All this will happen in phases. After laying tar, its quality needs to be checked. Potholes are forming because rainwater is getting accumulated. The police have given us a list of critical areas, and fixing those will solve the problem. If rainwater does not accumulate, pothole issues will reduce. This was also discussed, and measures are being taken to solve the problem”, he said.

“A dashboard was also suggested to track all issues. The government is working, and we’ll see what they do”, Misra added.