Mumbai: Taking a serious view of accidents occurring due to potholes, the Bombay High Court on Thursday urged the state government to consider framing a policy to compensate victims or their kin. The court emphasized that contractors should be held accountable and penalties should be recovered from the salaries of the concerned civic officers.
### Court Pulls Up BMC and Other Authorities
A bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh Patil expressed severe displeasure over the passing of the buck by various agencies and authorities regarding road maintenance and pothole repairs.
“Each one of you is passing the buck,” the court chided the counsels representing these agencies.
### BMC’s Pothole Claim Questioned
BMC counsel Anil Sakhare informed the bench that only 688 potholes remain to be repaired under its jurisdiction. He claimed the BMC receives pothole complaints and fixes them within 48 hours.
Sakhare added that the BMC had received 15,526 complaints from citizens, and junior engineers had detected 11,808 potholes across Mumbai and its suburbs.
However, the court was unsatisfied with this explanation and questioned the BMC over the recurrence of potholes on newly constructed roads, which often lead to accidents.
“If a pothole fills with water, a person may not see it,” the bench observed.
### Deaths Highlight Gravity of the Issue
The court was informed that six deaths due to potholes had occurred in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) during this monsoon season — three in Bhiwandi-Nizampur, and one each in Thane, Kalyan, and Mumbai.
The judges criticized the respective civic bodies’ counsels when they claimed that the deaths were due to negligence of truck drivers or bikers and not the potholes.
“To avoid a pothole, one may take a detour. That is the main cause,” the judges emphasized.
### ‘Why Potholes at All?’ Asks the Bench
When the BMC claimed that pothole complaints had decreased over the years, the judges questioned why potholes should exist at all.
“Why should roads constructed by you develop potholes in one rain? What action have you taken against the contractors?” the bench asked pointedly.
In response to the court’s observation that there were no potholes outside the High Court for years, Sakhare replied, “Yes, outside the High Court.”
### Accountability and Compensation
The civic counsel argued that other agencies — the MMRDA, MSRDC, PWD, MHADA, and Port Trust — were also responsible for maintaining roads under their jurisdiction.
To this, the bench responded, “We are on a larger issue. If a person sustains injury or dies due to a pothole, who is to be held responsible? There has to be accountability.”
The court further suggested that civic officers found to be corrupt or in collusion with contractors should be held accountable and face consequences.
### State Told to Frame Policy
When the counsels for the corporations of Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayander, and Thane, along with other authorities, claimed their roads were well maintained, the court again chided them for passing the buck.
“Each one of you, see how you are passing the buck. We don’t know who it is. We will direct the state,” the bench said, asking government pleader OS Chandurkar to take instructions on whether the government was willing to formulate a policy for awarding compensation to victims and their kin.
“Can the state come up with a policy for pothole-related injury and death? Making corporations accountable for their actions. Recovering compensation from the salaries of civic officials. It should not be a small penalty. They should feel the pinch,” the bench added.
### Directives for Quick Repair
The bench then directed municipal officers present in court to make contractors accountable for shoddy work and ensure that potholes in their jurisdiction are repaired within a week.
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https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/bombay-hc-raps-state-on-pothole-deaths-seeks-policy-for-victim-compensation
