Killer Potholes - Who is responsible?

The dialogue on Killer Potholes has started after the unfortunate death of the Lady Biker or Bikerni Jagruti Hogale, And should continue till this is resolved.

Why IndianPenalCode Section 304A cannot be made applicable to Civic Bodies?

Why is Causing death by Negligence by Civic bodies, National Highway Authorities and Road Contractors not punishable?

This is a 2015 Link on #KillerPotholes of India... .

If a doctor can face legal action for malpractice or negligence, and a manufacturer of a product be held liable for its poor performance, why can’t civic bodies be held responsible for road accidents that occur due to their negligence?

Priti Prasad of Ambarnath (in Mumbai’s metropolitan region) and Om Prakash of Bengaluru have been treated as culprits instead of victims despite one having lost a mother the other his wife. Both were riding their respective two-wheelers with a person riding pillion. And both crashed because of potholes on the road.

The law should have helped the survivors of the crash by punishing the culprits. But in both cases, the police went after the wrong person. Who then are the real culprits?

The civic authorities whose job is to maintain the roads and the contractors who laid the roads. In both cases, they obviously fell short. Instead those who were riding the vehicles have been faulted and booked.

A lurching halt in a pothole, even at a prescribed speed, can unseat the rider. The pillion rider has no control and risks falling which could lead to injury and death. The question of speeding here is not as relevant as the criminal liability of not maintaing the roads.

Priti Prasad tried to do the right thing by going to the heart of the matter. She argued that it wasn’t her driving at fault, but the pathetic condition of the road she was forced to use. The Ambernath police refused to register the FIR she was keen to file in order to target the contractor. She should ideally have listed the Ambernath civic body as well.

Standards are often ignored when building roads and sometimes a bad job is done to ensure that subsequent pothole repair contracts are secured as well. Each monsoon is a trigger for renewed loot.  In Mumbai, the high court has had to weigh in on behalf of the citizens, asking the civic body to ensure good roads and keep them pothole-free. It hasn’t become reality yet though.

Civic bodies, being impersonal and therefore insensitive, take these regular raps on the knuckle in their stride and provide sworn affidavits about how they will correct themselves.  The point is they don’t. Even Ganapati, the deity of Maharashtrian, has to worry if he can be brought in safely from the workshop and then taken for immersion without risking injury due to a pothole.

Perhaps the law of torts, whereby they are required to pay for damaged caused, would be the best way to cure the civic bodies of their habitual neglect. Suppose Prakash and Prasad take on the civic bodies by making a demand using torts, and seeking a corrective for a wrong done, it would be a nice start.

Given the number of potholes, not just on any city’s badly-kept roads but on toll-funded highways as well, authorities will have to reckon with the loss of finances and the need to have a separate department to deal with the cases. But they have to get the message that the city is run on tax-payer’s money.

It’s not enough to just have a civic body to provide employment to some and political opportunities to others. It would be a good idea if the accident laws were enabled to provide succour by levying the burden of compensation on the agencies.

Normally the person responsible for a road accident pays through insurance companies. So why not the civic bodies given they are the principal cause of accidents?

Source - http://www.firstpost.com/india/killer-potholes-of-india-civic-bodies-should-have-to-pay-up-for-the-deaths-they-cause-2444758.html

Slideshow on India's Killer Potholes: http://m.ndtv.com/photos/news/indias-killer-potholes-15625#&ui-state=dialog

Even as radio jockey Malishka and radio channel Red FM 93.5 are embroiled in a controversy with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) over a satirical video about the bad condition of the city roads, almost 29 accidents per day, or one accident every 50 minutes, were reported due to potholes across the country between 2013 and 2015, according to this reply by the Ministry of State for Road Transport and Highways to the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) on March 27, 2017.

As many as 10,876 road accidents due to potholes were reported across the country in 2015, the latest figure available. The data for 2016 are yet to be compiled, according to this reply by the ministry to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament).

Over three years, 31,681 accidents were reported due to potholes.

Source - https://www.indiaspend.com/viznomics/killer-potholes-29-accidents-reported-every-day-over-3-years-81157

A brilliant artist Baadal Nanjundaswamy hit national headlines after he planted a life-sized crocodile in the middle of a road after BBMP failed to repair a pothole. His efforts paid off and the city corporation filled up the pothole in just a day after the pictures went viral. A few weeks later Badal Nanjundaswamy drew a butterfly net around a pothole to wake up authorities! Again the red faced civic authorities immediately swung into action and filled up the potholes.
The location of Bengaluru is also partially responsible for the bad condition of roads. It is located 3000 feet above sea level and receives a lot rain. Since the rain leads to water logging, asphalted roads crack, creating potholes. However, the bad quality of work is the main reason for the ever increasing number of potholes across the city.
According to an estimate, there are 2,631 potholes in the city. It states that 910 potholes had come up on roads that are still under the defect liability period. Sources said that if there is any defect/pothole on the road when it is under the defect liability period, the contractor is liable to repair the same at his/her cost.
According to ‘The Hindu’ the report also states that there are 1,721 potholes on other roads, mainly arterial and sub-arterial ones. Sources said that a tender to fill the potholes on these roads would be called soon. The BBMP had earlier stated that a fine of Rs. 2,000 would be levied on contractors for each pothole.
In the last five years the BBMP has spent over Rs 100 crore to repair potholes across the city. However the potholes refuse to vanish. It clearly shows that the major portion of the spent has been siphoned off by the concerned people. Currently the BBMP is bankrupt, unless the Congress state government in Karnataka which snatched BBMP from the BJP releases generous funds for the road work, potholes continue to exist. Making Bengaluru is potholes free city should be the top priority of the BBMP and state government. Apathy kills.

Source - http://www.news18.com/news/india/killer-potholes-of-bengaluru-tragic-deaths-apathy-of-the-government-1106602.html

Filling up potholes is Mumbai man’s tribute to his son. - http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/filling-up-potholes-is-mumbai-man-s-tribute-to-his-son/story-3Y1UQVIEQbir6KSwFrM5VM.html

In July 2015, Billhore’s son Prakash, 16, died when the bike he was riding hit an 18-feet wide water-filled pothole on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. Prakash was driving back home from college with his cousin

"The trench was made to repair burnt cable wires underground but was not covered after they were repaired. I lost my son due to negligence of civic authorities,” said Billhore.
Now, Billhore, 46, has made it his mission to highlight the callous way in which the municipal corporation maintains the city’s roads.
“Filling up potholes is a tribute to my son who was a bright student and was the hope for a better future of our family,” Billhore said.
Every Sunday, he and his two friends scout around Andheri looking for potholes and filling them up with sand or pebbles."

After the accident, the Aarey police station registered criminal cases against a municipal officer and an engineer from a private power company. The two were held guilty under section 304A (causing death due to negligence) and section 338 (act endangering life and causing grievous hurt). They have got anticipatory bail.
“The charge sheet will be filed this week and we expect court proceedings to begin soon,” said Vilas Chavan, senior inspector from Aarey police station.

#KillerPotholes

We, The People. ... saw 400 deaths everyday in 2015 Road Accidents!

An official report, released by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday, said 1.46 lakh people were killed in road accidents in India in 2015 — an increase of five per cent from 2014.

Road accidents, as a whole, rose 2.5 per cent during 2015 to 5.01 lakh or 374 accidents every day, claiming 400 lives, the report said.

Majority (54.1 per cent) of those killed in 2015 were in the age group of 15-34. Thirteen States, including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, accounted for the highest number of accidents. Among cities, while Mumbai had the highest number of accidents (23,468), Delhi saw the most number of such deaths (1,622).

Also, drivers’ fault was responsible for 77.1 per cent of the accidents, deaths and injuries, mainly because of overspeeding, the report noted.

So many were not killed even in wars, epidemic and militancy,” Mr. Gadkari said.

Source: http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/146-lakh-lives-lost-on-indian-roads-last-year/article8710699.ece

Pothole Free Road is fundamental right - Bombay High Court

Year 2006-

High Court a two-judge bench in 2006 said, citizens' right to pothole-free roads is a fundamental right under right to life which creates corresponding obligation in all the authorities which are "state" under the Constitution

Year 2013 –

Bombay High Court took the suo motu PIL 
Justice Gautam Patel wrote to Chief Justice Mohit Shah to highlight the plight of motorists and pedestrians in Mumbai given the "pathetic'' condition of its potholed roads.

In a landmark interim order, the Bombay high court held that right to good roads is a fundamental right of citizens under right to life and held that it was the state's statutory obligation to provide good roads.

"It is high time that all concerned clearly understand that a right to have properly maintained roads is a part of the fundamental right guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India and in the event any loss is caused due to its violation, the citizens have a right to seek compensation,''

Bench directed the civic administrations in Mumbai, Thane and three other municipalities in Thane district, as well as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) to maintain all roads under their control and keep them pothole-free.

The HC laid down a detailed mechanism outlining legal obligations of all the authorities. On the duty to maintain smooth roads, the HC directed that "it is the mandatory duty of municipal corporations and other authorities like MMRDA and MbPT to construct, maintain and improve public streets.''

Citizens have a right to complain about poor roads, especially potholes on the roads.

"There has to be a dedicated website to receive and track complaints and their effective redressal,''
"The third aspect is of the use of proper technology for the construction of the roads, for maintenance and for filling the potholes,''
"The legal obligation of MSRDC is to maintain the roads and bridges in proper condition and to repair the same effectively.

It is its obligation to address the grievances of the citizens and to ensure the same are redressed if not within 15 days, but at least within a reasonable time,''

The HC directed that the BMC and all other authorities must construct roads and fill potholes "scientifically" and while permitting digging of any road, the agency's name and duration must be prominently displayed at the site.

All municipal corporations as well as the MMRDA, MSRDC and MbPT shall provide a mechanism for citizens to complain about poor road conditions through mails and photos at designated centres, toll free numbers, and dedicated websites and SMS services through the year

The HC called for compliance with regard to a set of directions by July 6. The agencies which will have to report back include the BMC, MbPT, the MSRDC and MMRDA.

Source: http://www.realityviews.in/2015/05/bombay-high-court-pothole-free-road-is.html?m=1


Pothole-free roads and properly levelled footpaths are fundamental rights of every citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, and in the event any loss caused due to its violation, the citizens have the right to seek compensation."

"It is the obligation of the authorities concerned to maintain the footpaths properly levelled and in such a condition that it can be conveniently used by pedestrians. This aspect cannot be taken lightly by any authority," the High Court said.

As of now the BMC has a helpline that operates for just four months (June 7-Oct 7). This, the court held, was not correct. The government and agencies should act on the complaint withing two weeks and post on the websites the action taken report. "Unless there is an effective mechanism provided to the citizens to file complaints they will not be in a position to enforce their constitutional as well as legal right to have well-maintained streets," the bench observed.

The court held that the authorities cannot put the blame on monsoon for the bad roads as the monsoon is normally heavy in the city. It directed the government to file affidavits to state the measures taken to ensure quality of the road maintenance works. It also directed the state and authorities to issue a circular to its officials dealing with the works that the failure to maintain the public roads, footpaths and bridges may lead to loss of precious lives, loss of valuable working hours and fuel, apart from causing inconvenience to the public. The circular should also caution that disciplinary action will be initiated against the erring officials.

The High Court will further hear the matter on July 10.


Source:

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-good-roads-a-fundamental-right-onus-on-maharashtra-government-to-ensure-it-bombay-high-court-2087709