Bombay HC seeks info on deaths and injuries due to potholes, pulls up civic authorities for ‘apathy’

A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh D Patil was hearing suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) raising concerns over the potholes in Mumbai and other civic areas in Maharashtra.

Last year, the HC had disposed of a contempt petition filed by a lawyer, Ruju Thakker, alleging non-compliance with the 2018 orders of HC by civic authorities to repair potholes along all arterial roads in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). However, the court had revived the suo motu PIL filed in 2013 in which directions were passed in 2018.

On Friday, during the hearing on the said suo motu PIL, Thakker submitted that as per news reports, due to potholes or craters on the road, at least 3 to 4 deaths occurred in different civic areas and two of them occurred within the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation area and one each within the areas of Thane and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations. Thakker submitted that these were only a few incidents which were reported and there may be many more such cases.

The bench orally slammed municipal corporations for their “apathy” and said they were “not at all serious” about the poor road conditions and they should pay the losses caused to the citizens. “Why should people suffer without any fault of their own?” the HC remarked.

Advocate Jamshed Mistry, who was appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter submitted that apart from the deaths that occurred due to potholes, several persons have also sustained injuries, and their information ought to be called. Mistry also submitted that past judgments have laid down that immediate medical help may be given to those injured due to poor road conditions.

He said there has to be a mechanism on the lines of public liability insurance in several countries which requires authorities to pay for the treatment and citizens should not be made to pay for the same.

The court then directed the state government lawyer to take instructions from various police stations on the number of deaths and injuries due to potholes. The court also sought information of ambulances who responded to distress calls related to accidents due to poor road conditions and potholes.

Stressing on the “seriousness” of the matter, the HC also directed the Assistant Commissioners of various municipal corporations and a senior officer from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to remain present during the next hearing on September 18. The HC will then decide the question of granting compensation for the pothole-related deaths.

The court also asked the lawyers for the authorities to take instructions from the respective civic bodies if they were willing to assume responsibility for the medical expenditure of persons injured due to potholes within their areas, as the “corporations appear to have breached several orders passed by High Court from time to time.”