Killer pothole: FIR filed against NHAI

BENGALURU: After 21-year-old Veena became the latest victim of a killer pothole on Tuesday, there seems to be some legal headway as responsibilty is being fixed on the authorities. Hers was the fourth death caused by a pothole in the last one week. The accident took place on the notorious National Highway 207.Kin of the deceased have lodged a complaint against the Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for not filling the potholes.

Police have now filed an FIR naming NHAI. Moreover, the truck driver who ran over the victim has surrendered before the police.Vijaylakshmi (24) was riding a scooter and her sister Veena (21) was accompanying her when the incident occurred on the highway between Devanahalli and Doddaballapur. On approaching a pothole, Vijaylakshmi applied the brakes sharply due to which a truck behind them struck the scooter and ran over Veena.

According to Vijaylakshmi, who was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, the truck driver had been driving too close to her scooter and hence could not apply brakes in time.
The driver of the truck, Manjunath had abandoned the truck and fled the spot. However, he returned surrendered to the police on Wednesday morning. Police said that he was not driving under the influence of alcohol.

While the pothole that caused the accident was small, the road has numerous big potholes as well. Most of them formed after heavy rainfall began. A police official of the Vishwanathapura station, where the case is registered, said several accidents had occurred on the road earlier too. Police said that they had notified NHAI officials regarding the state of the road a month ago.

“Due to a delay in the tendering process by the NHAI, they had said they would fill the potholes after the rainfall stopped. However, after the incident, they have taken up the work,” a police official said.
Sridhar, brother of the deceased, also claimed that several accidents happened on the road, and due to ongoing work on it, the road had two lanes instead of four on some stretches.

No firm to maintain roads

NHAI Regional Officer for Karnataka Y V Prasad said the contract for the road’s maintenance with the previous contracting firm had been terminated in May. He said it was the responsibility of the bank, the lender for the project, to assign the project to another firm by November 18.