Potholes menace: Bombay HC says it will assign bench to hear case

The Bombay High Court on Saturday said that it will assign a bench to hear the case concerning potholes on the roads in the state.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik said that they will assign a bench after an advocate mentioned the matter seeking an urgent hearing in the contempt plea in the potholes related public interest litigations (PILs).

Advocate Manoj Shirsat urged before the HC that there have been loss of lives and property due to the potholes on roads in the city and the state. He also said that not repairing roads was in violation of the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The judges then asked Shirsat to submit the information he had to the court which the court will consider later. The judges then said that it would assign a bench to hear the issue.

In the last one month, more than five persons have lost their lives in the city and neighbouring Thane district due to potholes.

The issue of potholes was brought to the court’s notice in 2013 when justice Gautam Patel wrote a letter to the then Chief Justice Mohit Shah, who took suo moto (on its own) cognisance of the letter. Justice Patel’s letter had highlighted that several accidents had occurred in the city and neighbouring districts due to potholes and bad conditions of the roads. The court then extended its directions in the matter to the entire state of Maharashtra.

In 2018, a division bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka had issued several directions of the government and the authorities concerned to tackle the potholes menace. The directions were passed following inviting suggestions from lawyers and activists.

However, things remained unchanged, advocate Ruju Thakker filed a contempt petition in the HC alleging that the authorities had failed to implement the high court orders of February and April 2018.

Last month, the HC had expressed concern over a pothole-related death in neighbouring Thane district, and remarked: “You (Thane municipal corporation) may not be able to prevent potholes, but you must prevent accidents.”

The HC had also asked all the civic bodies in the state to file compliance reports. However, as of last month, only seven of the 27 municipal bodies in the state have filed compliance reports.