'People Are Dying': Bombay High Court Pulls Up Civic Bodies For Not Repairing Roads, Potholes

The Bombay High Court on July 7 stated that all civic bodies should take prompt action as soon as they receive complaints about potholes. The court's comments came in regards to the death of a 23-year-old man who fell off his motorcycle and got run over by a bus after hitting a pothole in neighbouring Thane.

Bombay HC Instructs Strict Action!

A bench of Justices M S Karnik and A K Menon stated that the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) needed to take immediate action against people responsible for not having complied with a high court order from 2018 on repairing roads and fixing potholed stretches across the state.

"People are dying. You (civic bodies) must prevent accidents, save lives. You have to act immediately once potholes are brought to your notice," the court was quoted as saying by The Quint.

While referring to the Thane accident that claimed a life, the court stated that TMC is responsible for taking action against such non-compliance (of the 2018 order), as citizens are dying.

What Was The High Court Order?

Back in 2018, the high court initiated a suo moto (on its own) PIL and instructed all municipal corporations and councils across the state of Maharashtra to fix and repair arterial roads which come under their jurisdiction.

Last year, the court directed all civic bodies to officially file compliance reports documenting the number of complaints on potholes they had received, the number of accidents and also the number of deaths caused due to potholes and bad road conditions, and repairs carried out etc.

On July 7, the bench also noted that only seven of the concerned 27 municipal bodies had filed compliance reports. The court directed all civic bodies that were a party to the PIL to file their respective compliance reports immediately.

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