A unique way to highlight potholes in B'luru: Turn them into photo ops and embarrass the authorities

Bengaluru, Nov 18: You are in Bengaluru and you don't discuss potholes. Now that is not a possibility.

To drive this point across further, two months back, Nithin Prakash, a product manager along with photographer C S Thank and Nanthini tied up with Studio Gulaal to shoot pictures of models posing in the backdrop of potholes found in a terrible condition at the Kasavanahalli area.

The idea cropped up after Nithin sustained injuries when he met with an accident after landing on one of the potholes in early October. He decided that it was now time to highlight the pathetic conditions of the roads. However, he felt that this story needs to be told with a twist.

Nithin along with his three friends, a budding model, a fashion photographer and fashion boutique owner decided to photograph the condition of the roads. First they zeroed in on 25 outfits before going ahead with the shoot.

Thrak a fashion photographer said that while they were at the location, the people were very supportive. People are tired of these potholes and they even took us to many other places which were facing the problem he said.

Although the authorities are yet to react, there has been a lot of traction for this post on the social media. The pictures that have been posted on Instagram had got 11,000 likes already.

What the team realised during the shoot was that many places do not even have tar on the roads. There have been accidents as a result this.

Nanthini too had met with several accidents due to potholes and she wanted to model for this shoot to let the authorities knows how much the people are struggling.

The novel idea has surely caught the attention of the people, if not the authorities. The expressions by the model clearly reflect what the common man in Bengaluru feels about the situation of the roads.

The BBMP Commissioner, Anil Kumar B H wrote on Twitter that they have set a self imposed deadline of November 10 2019 to fill all potholes. Despite unexpected rains, very few potholes are to be filled. They will be filled soon, he also said.

However several residents are not convinced with this. They have complained that only patchwork is being done. Some users have said that there are vast areas that are yet to be covered. Another user on Twitter suggested to the BBMP that a tour in Mahadevapura needs to be taken and one could see at least a 1,000 plus such damages.