Musical potholes in Bangalore soon
After naming potholes after politicians, Bangalore is now undertaking a major exercise to refurbish city’s potholes and turn them into works of entertainment. As part of this strategy, over 13000 potholes in the heart of the city will soon turn musical complete with laser light show and synchronized fountains.
The project is the brainchild of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). As of now, over 200 potholes have already been fitted with fountains and musical lights and the figure is expected to go up to 350 by this year end. In a typical fountain in a pothole the water rises up to 3 meters in the air in synchronization with the music that is controlled by an application. It is programmed to produce 126 variations in the fountain.
“The mechanism is simple. The fountain is triggered by a passing vehicle. Every time a vehicle goes into a pothole, the trigger gets activated and the fountain gets into countdown mode and a stream of water comes out after 6 seconds in full swing (after the vehicle moves on) with music and an image of the local councillor. The best part is that the water for these fountains will come from leaking BWSSB pipelines in the vicinity and there is no additional investment on that,” said a proud BDA official.
When asked if such extravagance was necessary, the BDA official almost pounced on us. “Look when we don’t attend to these potholes you criticise us. When we don’t beautify the city you curse us. And now when we have done both in one go you are still unhappy. You guys should shed some of this negativity and invest the energy in creative endeavors. It’s not good for the nation you see. The other day my wife fell into a pothole near my house. When she came back, she thrashed me in front of my neighbors and dragged me out of the house. All because I cracked an ill-timed joke saying that I had kept that pothole aside for my mother-in-law. She refused to let me into the house, till I get the pothole fixed. When I went to a nearby park to get some sleep that evening, some stray mongrels mauled me. Even they were angry with the way the city was managing its infrastructure and that’s when I decided to do something and launched the pothole fountain plan and you are still cribbing. Are you aware of how tough it is for a bureaucrat to think,” the official said.
BDA's pride: a musical pothole fountain |
“The mechanism is simple. The fountain is triggered by a passing vehicle. Every time a vehicle goes into a pothole, the trigger gets activated and the fountain gets into countdown mode and a stream of water comes out after 6 seconds in full swing (after the vehicle moves on) with music and an image of the local councillor. The best part is that the water for these fountains will come from leaking BWSSB pipelines in the vicinity and there is no additional investment on that,” said a proud BDA official.
When asked if such extravagance was necessary, the BDA official almost pounced on us. “Look when we don’t attend to these potholes you criticise us. When we don’t beautify the city you curse us. And now when we have done both in one go you are still unhappy. You guys should shed some of this negativity and invest the energy in creative endeavors. It’s not good for the nation you see. The other day my wife fell into a pothole near my house. When she came back, she thrashed me in front of my neighbors and dragged me out of the house. All because I cracked an ill-timed joke saying that I had kept that pothole aside for my mother-in-law. She refused to let me into the house, till I get the pothole fixed. When I went to a nearby park to get some sleep that evening, some stray mongrels mauled me. Even they were angry with the way the city was managing its infrastructure and that’s when I decided to do something and launched the pothole fountain plan and you are still cribbing. Are you aware of how tough it is for a bureaucrat to think,” the official said.
Comments
but well, must say liked the way these musical fountains work -- triggered by passing vehicles :DD