Bengaluru pothole repairs could move towards a rapid-response model, with the Greater Bengaluru Authority exploring a system to send repair teams to reported locations within minutes. GBA Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said the civic body was working towards ensuring that complaints do not remain unattended for weeks or months.
Rao made the remarks during a podcast while explaining how the proposed complaint-based response system could operate. He compared the approach with quick-commerce services, saying residents should eventually be able to request a civic repair and receive a prompt response at the site.
The proposal comes as road damage continues to be linked to several overlapping infrastructure pressures. Rao said potholes form or worsen after roads are opened for construction, utility repairs, water-leak maintenance and sewage work. Metro construction and road widening have also contributed to repeated cuts and disturbances on road surfaces.
He said the city must improve the quality of restoration after underground work is completed. In several cases, utilities have been shifted to one side of the road, but the resulting road repairs have not always prevented deterioration. Rao also pointed to ageing water pipelines and drainage networks, many of which are between 20 and 30 years old, as a cause of seepage and weakened road surfaces.
The GBA chief commissioner said monsoon rain makes repairs more difficult, while wet-mix treatment often provides only temporary relief. More durable repairs require drier conditions, he said. This creates an operational challenge for the civic body: residents need immediate action on dangerous road defects, but permanent resurfacing may not be possible during wet weather.
The proposed system would also require complaints to be tracked after they are submitted. City resident Avinash Shenoy said residents needed a mechanism through which a complaint could be inspected immediately and either repaired or accompanied by an explanation for the delay. Another resident, Sandhya Kumar, said unattended small potholes could become larger craters, increasing the risk of two-wheeler crashes and slowing traffic.
The road-safety consequences have been severe. The report cited the deaths of four people in Bengaluru-related pothole or uneven-road incidents since November 2021. Dhanushree, 20, died in September 2025 after being thrown from her scooter near Budigere Cross and being run over by a truck. In August 2024, Medha Akarsh, 32, died after falling while avoiding a pothole near Ananth Nagar, Hebbagodi. Earlier cases cited in the report involved deaths near Rajajinagar in 2022 and the Outer Ring Road in 2021.
Rao said the city would also need to upgrade underground utilities as multi-storey buildings replace older structures and place greater pressure on existing networks. The GBA has not announced a firm launch date, response-time guarantee or detailed implementation framework for the proposed rapid pothole-repair system.
