We took one more step forward in our mission – we filled a couple of potholes today. Aru met her accident on a pothole-ridden rubble-strewn road. When we filled these potholes, the thought going through our minds was “if only…if only… that road had been good”.
It is no longer sufficient for us to sit back and comment on the state of affairs. There is a “junoon” that makes us go ahead and do something.
We had identified the two potholes on Cambridge Road, Bangalore – On the corner of the street where Canara Bank is. GPS coordinates: 12°58’22.1″N 77°37’36.3″E ( You can check it out on Google Maps )
The state of the potholes After is seen in the picture above.
The “Before” picture is here
Today morning at 6:30 AM, we loaded the car with the material and went to the spot. We wanted to ensure that we did not affect any traffic. Using traffic cones to demarcate the work area, the two of us cleaned up the potholes and poured the Shellmac in. After tamping it in place, we thought there was still a depression in the ground, so we repeated the process. It took us about an hour to complete the work.
There were a few people who came to us to enquire; some made appreciative comments; one person stopped his car and took photos; one person said we should leave it to the people employed for such work; but there were a couple of them who offered to help, and joined us. After tamping the Shellmac into place, we drove the car a few times over the pothole. I have read that this “rolling” helps the compaction.
Work In Progress
A brief note on the material we used:
- Shellmac – a cold mix for filling the pothole
- A tamping tool – to ram the Shellmac into the pothole where it binds together
- Traffic Cones – to cordon off the work area
- Cleaning Material – brushes, brooms, buckets
- Work Gloves
Shellmac is delivered in 50 kg bags, so it was a task in itself to divide it into smaller lots so we could carry the material to the site. For the two potholes we used approximately 45 kg of Shellmac. It gets compacted as we do the tamping.
This first attempt has given us a feel for what it takes to fill potholes. We understand some of the logistics, the time required, the challenges of procurement of material, and the transportation to the required place. We now need to monitor the outcome – does the pothole start forming again? How soon? What factors contribute to longevity of the repair?
Our individual effort will continue – we will do it on a scale that we can manage. We realise it is big a task to take on the pothole-ridden roads of Bangalore. But with like-minded people, and many hands working together, this is feasible. Hopefully, this will resonate with the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that many companies are taking up. It can be a great team-building exercise, and it can have a deeper social impact on how we see and use our facilities. It can also help build awareness on road safety. This is not to take away the responsibility from the municipality, hopefully it puts more pressure on the system to a better job in the first place.
