Once again, the state of Bengaluru’s roads has sparked public outrage, but it became worse as the startup founder Shikhar posted pictures of pothole-ridden streets in his neighbourhood.
Worsened Roads Sparked Public Outrage
In this regard, Shikhar wrote on X, “These photos are from my neighbourhood. People have given up since there has been no action by the government since 3 years. If anyone on Twitter can get the government to take action, I will buy you an iPhone.”
“It’s gotten progressively worse now, and even SUVs have a tough time! Close to where I live too, please do check BBMP Commissioner,” said Deepak Shenoy, Capitalmind CEO while amplifying the reaction.
It is almost more than four months since top voices from the city have flagged the worsening condition of Bengaluru’s roads and the lack of civic response.
In the meantime, the city’s municipal body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), is also facing criticism after Commissioner Rajendra Cholan featured in a promotional video with Canadian vlogger Caleb Friesen following a clean-up drive.
Friesen’s first video, documenting his walk from Majestic bus stand to a Starbucks, showed how pedestrians were forced to step onto busy roads because footpaths were unusable, reportedly.
This video very quickly went viral as so many people pointed out that civic authorities ignored complaints from locals for years.
Interestingly, they acted overnight after a foreigner highlighted the problem.
Responding to the same, BBMP launched a clean-up operation and staged a PR video in which Cholan joined volunteers to sweep the stretch and then sat on the newly cleaned pavement to eat snacks.
When Friesen, brought back to the site, he remarked, “This is incredible. It is amazing to see everybody sitting and eating in the same place where there was trash, urine and barbed wire. You couldn’t even walk in this place.”
Government Doing Civic Repair After International Embarrassment
Although, this staged clip sparked another wave of anger “It took a white man’s video to go viral for them to suddenly remember their duty,” one user said.
Another said, “Bengaluru municipality needs a Canadian influencer just to discover brooms exist.”
“Caleb, a Canadian, posted a video of an unwalkable footpath… The video went viral, and the embarrassed municipality cleaned the area and then made a PR video with him, while staff sat down on the footpath to eat, to show Caleb how clean it was. The corporation commissioner also sat down and gave big talks. ‘It’s my duty.’ If it was duty, then why wasn’t it done till now? Needed a video from a white man to go viral to be reminded of duty?” wrote The Skin Doctor account on X.
Besides this, some of the viewers pointed to Friesen’s visibly uncomfortable expression in the PR clip.
One such user pointed out, “Look at the disgust on Caleb’s face at the start of the video. I’m sure they briefed him before clicking the record.”
Later on, the Greater Bengaluru Authority posted images of the stretch, calling it a “safe pedestrian space.”
According to the critics, the optics-driven exercise only highlighted that civic repair happens after international embarrassment.
One such user said, “Fix neglected infrastructure before complaints go viral. Pedestrians shouldn’t need a white man’s video for safe walkways.”
