Fed up with crater-ridden roads and government inaction, Bengaluru’s tech community staged a creative protest to spotlight the city’s decaying infrastructure. On Saturday, residents of the Panathur-Balagere neighbourhood, near the bustling Outer Ring Road tech corridor, transformed their frustration into art, music, and satire.

Organised by the Individual Tax Payers Forum, the protest featured locals donning witty T-shirts reading, “I paid taxes for roads, not a rollercoaster,” while singing reworded Kannada hits to amplify their message. Protesters also drew rangolis around potholes, turning gaping craters into symbols of both physical and systemic failure.

The spectacle quickly went viral on social media, with users resonating deeply with the blend of humour and helplessness. Many echoed concerns about tax misuse and demanded accountability from city administrators. “It’s tragic to see taxpayers begging for basics,” one user posted. Another lamented that BBMP’s repairs, even if undertaken, wouldn’t survive beyond a season.

This wasn’t the first time citizens resorted to creative dissent. In December 2024, Panathur residents cut a pothole-themed cake to shame authorities into action on the S-Cross Road. Past demonstrations near Iblur Junction also drew thousands, but residents argue little has changed.

Frustrated voices online demanded BBMP elections and even floated a #NoRoadsNoTax movement, calling for civil resistance rather than symbolic protests that fall on deaf ears.