Book NHAI & contractor for pothole deaths: NGO

Nagpur: A day after four innocent citizens, including three kids, were killed in a ghastly accident due to a pothole near Satnavari village on Nagpur-Amravati national highway on Sunday, lawyers, social workers and NGOs have demanded strict action against erring contractors.
They have also appealed to the citizens to lodge complaints about potholes on the helplines provided by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and city police.
Janmanch president Rajiv Jagtap has demanded immediate action against the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials and the contractor for negligence in repairing the pothole that caused the accident.
Many lawyer members of the NGO also called for registering an offence of culpable homicide against the concerned officials and contractors.
“Despite repeated orders by the high court, hardly any roads have been repaired. Even those in posh areas like Civil Lines have developed crater sized potholes. A few of them were repaired by the NMC, but the material used was of such inferior quality that it got washed away after brief rain,” they claimed.
The Janmanch office-bearers pointed out that complaints about the big pothole that caused the tragic incident on Sunday was lodged with the NHAI, but all pleas of the nearby resident were neglected. The NGO further demanded probe against erring NHAI officials and contractors to fix the responsibility.
Despite regularly collecting toll tax on the stretch of the road on which the mishap took place on Sunday, the contractor failed to repair the potholes, pointed out lawyers M Radke and Dada Khodke and demanded adequate compensation to the kin of the deceased and those injured. “This amount should be recovered from the negligent NHAI officials and the contractor firm,” they said.
A lawyer, who was instrumental in filing many PILs, said the citizens should flood the NMC’s helplines with pothole complaints. He also urged citizens to file contempt cases in the high court against the civic and police officials by submitting a simple application in suo motu writ petition No. 838/2019 where Raheel Mirza has been appointed amicus curiae.
Another set of lawyers expressed surprise over the potholed roads due to apathy of the NMC, which failed to act in time. They also questioned the Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari’s claims of expediting road laying work in the entire country when hardly any stretch in his home town is not free from potholes, which are getting bigger and bigger with each passing day.
HC Directives On Potholed Roads
Repair all potholes within 10 days after citizens’ plaint, else police to lodge case against officials & contractors
NMC & govt lawyers should travel by two-wheelers to know the plight of common citizens and risks involved
Will make it compulsory for lawyers to travel on two-wheelers to realize difficulties faced by commuters
Equally concerned over inferior quality of work in cement roads & want civic body to investigate this aspect
Civic authorities should ask pothole location from corporators, instead of complainants who report them