Man who broke coastal road railing with his car and fell into sea told by BMC to pay Rs 2.65 lakh as compensation for damages

“It is to inform you that on October 7, while driving your car from Haji Ali to Worli, you lost control of the vehicle and consequently it broke through the roadside railing and fell into the sea. As a result of the above, the public property has been damaged and the estimated cost of repair has been projected at Rs 2.65 lakh,” said the BMC’s notice.

“Since the said damage has occured due to your negligent driving, you are hereby directed to deposit Rs 2.65 lakh in the BMC treasury at the earliest.

The payment receipt should be forwarded to this office at the earliest for necessary closure of this case,” the civic notice said.

On the delay in issuing notice, the civic authorities said that they had to assess the cost by carrying out an internal audit of the damage.

“The railing has been repaired immediately, since the coastal road is a high-speed corridor it cannot be left unattended for a prolonged period. We have only demanded compensation with regards to repair charges. The same could be issued in notice only when the bills for the actual work are settled. Therefore, it took us a month’s time to send the notice,” said a civic official privy to the development.

The authorities maintained that if the resident fails to make the payment within a month then a reminder will be sent.

“If the resident still doesn’t pay the money, then the case will be forwarded to the assessment department and the penalty amount would be included in the property tax receipt,” the official said.

From August 15, the BMC opened the coastal road for 24 hours, prior to that since it’s inauguration in March last year, vehicles were allowed to ply on the coastal road only between 7 am and midnight. Over the past one year several cases of overspeeding and accidents were reported on the road and the civic administration including chief minister – Devendra Fadnavis had urged the citizens to drive carefully on the road.