Bangalore:
Ask anyone living in Bangalore the biggest problem they face in the city - and a frequent answer would be - the traffic, just getting from one place to another.
India's IT capital has roads that are far from world-class and that only adds to the painfully slow progress on the roads.
The Bangalore Metro is being built in a bid to reduce that trouble and make life more easy for commuters.
But if you look at the road underneath what is meant to be a Metro station on Kanakapura road in south Bangalore, you would find that it has deteriorated completely.
But even in places where the Metro construction has not reached yet, the pits and craters that motorists need to negotiate is depressing.
One commuter using a scooter told NDTV, "It is nothing but a pothole city rather than a silicon city or a garden city. There are no more gardens and all roads are having potholes." (
Fix that pothole: Full coverage)
Sudipta, a young mother travelling with her child on a two-wheeler said, "It is really very tough to travel on this road. Every morning here the traffic will be jammed. I am afraid to come on this road and I am very conscious while driving."
The civic body Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike or BBMP says it has counted every pothole in the city's 198 wards - and they add up to 40,190. Of this, 23,405 have been attended to, leaving 16,785 still in business.
The costs of repairing these potholes is said to be Rs 5 lakh per ward.
And by the time the last one is finally filled in, is it possible that fresh ones may have formed or badly repaired ones might have opened up again?
Very possible indeed.