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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Bengaluru techie's pothole tracker gains traction. Will BBMP swing into action now?
Bengaluru: In a quiet corner of South Bengaluru, a digital civic movement is taking shape, born out of one man's frustration with the city's pothole-riddled streets. Software engineer Deepu (name changed) has developed a pothole-mapping platform that empowers residents to upload geotagged images of potholes across the city. These images are then plotted on a live digital map, accessible to everyone—from the public to BBMP engineers. "I stay in Kalena Agrahara, and driving every day on crater-riddled roads is a headache. Thousands of Bengaluru commuters face this problem daily. I complained to BBMP through their app, but no action was taken. I've seen complaints being closed without any response," Deepu said. "So, being a software engineer, I thought, why not map these potholes? I created this public space for people to share the pictures of potholes," he added. The platform, informally known as the Bengaluru Pothole Map, has already registered over 130 to 150 verified pothole submissions from across the city in a week. Each submission includes a photograph and auto-detected location data embedded in the image. When a user uploads an image, it goes through a moderation queue hosted on GitHub. Deepu verifies each submission to ensure accuracy, tags its severity level (minor, major, critical), and publishes it to a live map. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru The map is user-friendly. A red pin marks each pothole, and clicking on the pin reveals a live photo of the pothole. Users can see how many potholes are marked on the map, in which area, and the date of upload. The map is transparent, allowing everyone to view it. Unlike BBMP's official portals, where users often complain about a lack of feedback or transparency, this platform offers visibility into both the problem and, if adopted, the solution. "We often don't know if a pothole complaint has been acted upon, but imagine if BBMP engineers started uploading 'after repair' images to the same map. The data would speak for itself," Deepu said. Deepu has open-sourced both the data and the platform's code. "Anyone can replicate it in their city. It's built to be shared," he said. Deepu is also working on enabling Kannada support and dividing the city into zones so that moderators from each zone can vet entries and expand coverage. People's project While TOI asked if he is open to collaboration with BBMP, Deepu said: "They don't even have to contact me. Just use the map. Click on the image, see the pothole, and fix it. Then upload a repair image. Simple. It makes the system accountable, and it shows that they care." While the BBMP apps like 'Fix My Street' and WhatsApp helplines exist, many citizens have reported a lack of visibility into whether issues are being resolved. This new platform seeks to change that by making the entire process public, visual, and crowd-verifiable. Deepu's inspiration came during the pandemic when his daily commute along Bannerghatta Road and near Meenakshi Mall became a daily obstacle course. "After Covid, things went downhill. Roads got worse. Even where there were repairs, they wouldn't last beyond the next rainfall. This weekend, I'm doing a mapping drive around Dairy Circle. We'll take 200–300 images. Eventually, I want various areas of the city to be managed by different moderators. BBMP doesn't have to own it. This can be a people's project," he added. The tool is designed to be anonymous, with no personal details collected from users. "I don't want to know who you are. I just want the potholes fixed. The platform checks image metadata, confirms it via Google Maps, and if it looks authentic, it goes live," he said. With this initiative, Deepu hopes to not just map potholes but also shift how we view civic engagement. "If public work is happening in the public domain, then let it be documented publicly. That's how we build trust," he added. Bengaluru: In a quiet corner of South Bengaluru, a digital civic movement is taking shape, born out of one man's frustration with the city's pothole-riddled streets. Software engineer Deepu (name changed) has developed a pothole-mapping platform that empowers residents to upload geotagged images of potholes across the city. These images are then plotted on a live digital map, accessible to everyone—from the public to BBMP engineers. "I stay in Kalena Agrahara, and driving every day on crater-riddled roads is a headache. Thousands of Bengaluru commuters face this problem daily. I complained to BBMP through their app, but no action was taken. I've seen complaints being closed without any response," Deepu said. "So, being a software engineer, I thought, why not map these potholes? I created this public space for people to share the pictures of potholes," he added. The platform, informally known as the Bengaluru Pothole Map, has already registered over 130 to 150 verified pothole submissions from across the city in a week. Each submission includes a photograph and auto-detected location data embedded in the image. When a user uploads an image, it goes through a moderation queue hosted on GitHub. Deepu verifies each submission to ensure accuracy, tags its severity level (minor, major, critical), and publishes it to a live map. The map is user-friendly. A red pin marks each pothole, and clicking on the pin reveals a live photo of the pothole. Users can see how many potholes are marked on the map, in which area, and the date of upload. The map is transparent, allowing everyone to view it. Unlike BBMP's official portals, where users often complain about a lack of feedback or transparency, this platform offers visibility into both the problem and, if adopted, the solution. "We often don't know if a pothole complaint has been acted upon, but imagine if BBMP engineers started uploading 'after repair' images to the same map. The data would speak for itself," Deepu said. Deepu has open-sourced both the data and the platform's code. "Anyone can replicate it in their city. It's built to be shared," he said. Deepu is also working on enabling Kannada support and dividing the city into zones so that moderators from each zone can vet entries and expand coverage. People's project While TOI asked if he is open to collaboration with BBMP, Deepu said: "They don't even have to contact me. Just use the map. Click on the image, see the pothole, and fix it. Then upload a repair image. Simple. It makes the system accountable, and it shows that they care." While the BBMP apps like 'Fix My Street' and WhatsApp helplines exist, many citizens have reported a lack of visibility into whether issues are being resolved. This new platform seeks to change that by making the entire process public, visual, and crowd-verifiable. Deepu's inspiration came during the pandemic when his daily commute along Bannerghatta Road and near Meenakshi Mall became a daily obstacle course. "After Covid, things went downhill. Roads got worse. Even where there were repairs, they wouldn't last beyond the next rainfall. This weekend, I'm doing a mapping drive around Dairy Circle. We'll take 200–300 images. Eventually, I want various areas of the city to be managed by different moderators. BBMP doesn't have to own it. This can be a people's project," he added. The tool is designed to be anonymous, with no personal details collected from users. "I don't want to know who you are. I just want the potholes fixed. The platform checks image metadata, confirms it via Google Maps, and if it looks authentic, it goes live," he said. With this initiative, Deepu hopes to not just map potholes but also shift how we view civic engagement. "If public work is happening in the public domain, then let it be documented publicly. That's how we build trust," he added.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
East Sussex cyclist breaks bones after pothole left unfilled
A cyclist was left with a broken cheekbone and elbow after he hit a pothole covered with water before blacking BBC can reveal Surrey, East and West Sussex, Brighton and Kent councils paid out £4.1m in compensation to road-users over the past five resident Gianni Montoro, who was cycling in Station Road in Groombridge, said: "My front wheel never came out of that pothole, my back wheel came up and I got catapulted down to the ground."East Sussex County Council wished Mr Montoro a speedy recovery and said they carried out a temporary repair before the incident, but could not do a permanent repair due to water on the road. 'I hit the ground like a potato bag' The pothole was submerged in water and had been reported to East Sussex County Council by a resident four weeks before the accident. "I hit the ground like a potato bag," Mr Montoro father-of-two has been cycling for more than 20 years but said the incident had left him shaken. "The pothole was left, I couldn't see it, I had no idea what was coming, I just know I couldn't swerve to protect myself," added Mr Montoro, who owns the delicatessen Arte Bianca in Tunbridge Wells. He said: "If any other cyclists had gone the same way that morning they would have had the same destiny as mine. No chance."The pothole was repaired a few days after the accident. Groombridge resident Sarah Andrews said she reported the pothole on the Fix My Street App. She said the council came out and marked the pothole to be fixed but it was not filled Andrews added: "The pothole was bad and was getting progressively worse. "It was bigger than my foot and I'm a size five, the water was eventually up to my ankle." Ms Andrews said residents had put a traffic cone in the pothole to alert drivers and cyclists, but the cone got damaged."Why didn't the council put up a barrier or cordon it off so people knew it was there?" she Dollimore, from charity Cycling UK, said potholes could be "potentially life-changing" to year 40 cyclists are seriously injured from potholes and between two and three die, Mr Dollimore says. He added: "It puts people off cycling which has massive health, environmental and wellbeing benefits so we should be doing more to make sure this isn't a problem." Additional reporting by Alex Bish.
Canberra Times
22-05-2025
- Canberra Times
'It's ridiculous': Canberrans enraged over Fix My Street backlog
"It is ridiculous. You go on the ramp to reach the shops and find you can't get off. It was even harder when I was in a manual wheelchair and I would get caught at the end. My report on this with photographs hasn't been addressed," he said on his report, which is one of the 40,077 cases, lodged by Canberrans on Fix My Street in the financial year 2024-25.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Fury over local bike gang ‘terrorising' St Mary's Cray neighbourhood
A resident in St Mary's Cray is at their 'wits end' with a local bike gang 'terrorising' the neighbourhood. The concerned resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the News Shopper that the neighbourhood is being bombarded by the 'constant sound' of motorbikes 'whizzing round and around.' They said: 'There are at least three vehicles involved – one is a quad bike, and the other two are motorbikes.' The inspector for Bromley Neighbourhoods at the Metropolitan Police, Stuart Baker, said officers are 'actively responding' to concerns regarding the behaviour and an investigation is underway to identify those involved. He explained: 'We know this sort of activity is really concerning for local residents and want to reassure them that we will take a hard stance against offenders.' The resident, who lives near St Pauls Cray Primary School, claims that the group are 'completely destroying' the nearby country park and making the grounds 'inaccessible and unsafe' for other members of the community. They added: 'The group seem to think that the local open parks are there for their own personal use. 'There are always children playing in the streets - It is a matter of time until a child is killed'. There have been numerous complaints reported on the council-run website Fix My Street, but the resident claims nothing has happened to stop the offenders. The resident said: 'This has been going on for years, and we are all sick of this anti-social, selfish and dangerous behaviour.' On Wednesday (February 26), Bromley Council responded to one of the reports on Fix My Street saying it is "continuing to investigate and working to resolve this report.' The News Shopper approached Bromley Council for a comment on the matter, but it did not respond. Bromley Neighbourhoods Inspector, Stuart Baker, added: "An investigation is underway to identify those involved. 'This involves identifying those responsible and using enforcement powers to seize such vehicles and target those responsible. 'We are also working with partners in the local authority and housing associations to target the locations where this takes place. "We remain determined to combat this type of behaviour, and I will continue directing patrols to deter these crimes wherever they are taking place. "Those who commit such behaviour are known to their local community and I would urge members of the public who know who these people are to pass this information to the police via 101 or Crimestoppers if they wish to do so anonymously."
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Biker's birthday party for damaged manhole cover
A motorcyclist has thrown a party to mark the first 'birthday' of a damaged manhole cover. David Morris reported the cover in Wardington to Oxfordshire County Council in February 2024, and was told it would be fixed by May of that year. A year on, Mr Morris threw a celebration - complete with a birthday cake - at the site to mark the occasion. The council said it had passed the "issue" onto "the relevant team for investigation". Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford Mr Morris explained that he had reported the damage through the authority's Fix My Street website multiple times. "All that's happened since is the hole has got bigger," he said. Responding to the council statement, he said it would "probably be investigated and left without a fuss being made." As part of the anniversary, Mr Morris sang happy birthday to the damaged cover, and presented it with a birthday cake. "I would say it cracked a smile, but there's enough cracks in it as it is, so another one wouldn't be too good," he said. Adding that he got got a few strange looks: "One chap on a motorbike asked if I'd broken down." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Roadworks cause 'chaos' for school Businesses concerned over three-month road works Major road scheme gets £126m after two year pause Oxfordshire County Council
