Man crushed to death after bike hits pothole, fifth such accident in Kalyan near Mumbai

A 26-year-old man was crushed to death by a truck after he fell off his two-wheeler that tripped on a pothole in Maharashtra’s Kalyan on Friday, police said, in the fifth such incident since the monsoon set in the state.

Kalpesh Jadhav, a resident of Nandkar village in Bhiwandi, had come to Kalyan at around 2am for some work and was going back home when he met with the accident on Gandhare bridge.

“He died on the spot. The truck driver fled away immediately after the incident,” an officer of the Khadakpada police station said.

Officials of Khadakpada police station have started filling the potholes on the bridge with sand, pebbles and brick pieces using a JCB machine after Jadhav’s death.

KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation commissioner Govind Bodke, city engineer Pramod Kulkarni and other officials of the civic body visited the spot after the accident.

Locals have alleged despite the increasing number of deaths due to potholes in the city, authorities have not taken any measure to repair the roads across Kalyan Dombivli.

“The civic body has miserably failed to take necessary steps. The civic commissioner had assured to meet the representatives of residents on July 12 but the residents were neglected,” Sreenivas Ghanekar, a social activist, said.

“We are holding a meeting today (Friday) and by evening we will come up with a plan of action against the civic body,” he added.

He was referring to the meeting of officials of KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on Thursday to discuss possible solutions to fix bad roads in the twin cities.

The civic body chief Bodke has asked MSRDC and MIDC officials to fill the potholes and carry out levelling of the roads under KDMC’s jurisdiction.

“Today, I met the residents of Dwarli Naka and they have agreed to carry out the cement concretisation work on the Haji Malang stretch. I have directed the concerned contractors to carry out the work,” Bodke said.

“The potholes on this stretch will also be filled. Our officials are already working in every ward to fill the potholes and the work will be done without delay,” he added.

On July 11, a 45-year-old man was crushed under a truck at Dwarli Naka at Haji Malang road after he fell in a pothole. Before that, a 40-year-old woman died after coming under the wheels of a bus at the busy Shivaji Chowk in Kalyan (West) on July 8. The video of the incident went viral on social media platforms.

On July 10, a 40-year-old passenger was killed and four others were injured after a truck toppled on their autorickshaw at Kongaon, Bhiwandi.

A five-year-old boy died after he came under the wheels of a truck when his father’s motorcycle skidded between Shivaji Chowk and Sahajanand Chowk in Kalyan on June 2. Passersby claimed that the father lost control of the vehicle due to the uneven road.