State yet to come up with policy on compensation for deaths due to potholes; Bombay HC guidelines on road repairs also not followed

More than two months after being directed by the Centre to prepare a policy on compensation for pothole deaths, the state government is still dragging its feet. The delay has now earned the ire of a Supreme Court-appointed committee.

In a letter dated February 13 sent to the state government—a copy of which is with Mirror—the Committee on Road Safety questioned its failure in formulating such a policy despite accounting for the second highest pothole-related casualties in the country. A government official said the state is “in the process” of framing the policy.

But the Committee on Road Safety’s patience has worn thin. It has set a deadline of March 31 for the state government to submit a compliance report on road safety measures.

The committee also slammed the government for allegedly not following road safety guidelines set by the Bombay High Court in June last year, like putting up signage bearing the name of the agency taking up road repairs and offering a grievance redressal mechanism.

“The committee notes that the state has not sent an appropriate note on the implementation of the orders of the High Court. The committee reiterated that a brief note on the implementation of orders regarding prevention of deaths due to potholes should be sent to the committee,” it said.

The committee also expressed displeasure over “low” compensation offered by the state government in hit-andrun cases. Compensation for such accidents varies from case to case.

The Committee on Road Safety had set the ball rolling on fixing accountability for pothole deaths after it told the Supreme Court in December last year that the country had seen 14,936 casualties in five years. Uttar Pradesh saw the highest death toll of 4,415; Maharashtra trailed with 2,136. It was based on the same committee’s recommendations that the Union ministry of road transport and highways had directed the Maharashtra transport department on December 11, 2018, to draw up a compensation plan.

Mushtaq Ansari, a citizen activist, alleged that the state government has frequently turned a blind eye to road safety.

“Pothole-related deaths have been largely ignored. Mumbaikars deserve better roads.”

KILLER ROADS
14,936 No. of deaths caused by potholes in India in the last five years
2,136 Pothole deaths in the state in the same period, second highest in the country
26,934 Potholes in city, as estimated by a citizens’ group

CASUALTIES IN 2018

23 JAN

Jayshilan Raja Ayyakutty, 12,

who was playing on an uneven road, died after a truck ran over him in Kalyan’s Rambaug.

3 JUN

Aarav Atharale, 5,

died after being run over a truck in Shivaji Chowk area. He was thrown of his father’s bike after it hit a pothole.

7 JUL

Manisha Bhoir,

a school attendant skidded at a pothole, fell of her bike and was crushed under the wheels of a truck at the same spot where Atharale lost his life.

10 JUL

Hasim Hanif Shaikh, 40,

a chicken vendor, died in Kongaon area after a truck hit a giant pothole and crashed onto the autorickshaw he was riding.

11 JUL

A 45-year-old stable labourer,

only known by his nickname ‘Anna’, died on the Kalyan-Nevali road near Dwarli village after he slipped in a pothole and came under a truck.

13 JUL

Kalpesh Jadhav,

a 26-yearold a sand and vegetable supplier,

was on his way home when his two-wheeler hit a pothole on Kalyan-Padga Road. He came under a truck and died. A 45-year-old stable labourer, only known by his nickname ‘Anna’, died on the Kalyan-Nevali road near Dwarli village after he slipped in a pothole and came under a truck.

Sunny Vishwakarma, 27,

died after falling into a pothole on the Sion-Panvel highway in Sanpada.

25 AUG

Two siblings— Sachin Gharat, 10, Kamini Gharat, 15, were crushed under a gas tanker after the bike their father was riding skidded on a pothole on the Mumbai-Nashik highway near Asangaon railway station, Thane.

24 NOV

A woman and her six-month-old son died after their bike hit a pothole filled with loose paver blocks in Dadar.

source: Mumbai Mirror

MMRCL  says temporary tunnel needed near Eros Cinema, Churchgate, to complete work on time.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation’s (MMRCL) decision to axe eight old trees — one of them a banyan at least 150 years old —near Eros Cinema in Churchgate in order to build a temporary shaft on the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro line  has been met with criticism from activists and residents.

Metro work is in full swing on Maharshi Karve Marg and Veer Nariman Road near Eros.

MMRCL has said construction of the temporary shaft is necessary to facilitate muck removal from tunnels.

“The current proposal to cut more trees is contrary to the assurance given to the Hon’ble High Court by MMRCL,” Zoru Bhathena, a tree activist, said. “The MMRCL had told the court it would cut trees only when it had no choice, and replant them elsewhere, and plant new ones once the Metro is built.”

No additional tree removal proposal can be sanctioned by the BMC , as that would be in breach of its promises.

“This temporary shaft can be constructed anywhere. In fact, there is already a permanent ventilation shaft being constructed at the BEST depot Hindustan Petroleum Corporation  building on Jamshedji Tata Road. Surely that same shaft can be modified for temporary use,” Bhathena said.

“This is one of the oldest boulevards in the city and it would be sad to lose these trees,” Nina Verma, a resident of Churchgate, said. “More than 50 per cent of replanted trees die. MMRCL can build the shaft somewhere else.”

 

“We have been fighting a long battle — for around two years,” Ashvin Nagpal, a filmmaker and photographer from Churchgate, said. “We have already lost around 60 to 70 trees. They had been there our entire lives,” said Nagpal, who has photographed all the trees in the area.

An MMRCL spokesperson said the corporation was doing its best to limit the impact of the construction work.

“This shaft is necessary to make up for time lost due to certain litigations, including the one related to the issue of trees. Timely completion of the project is important as that is in the interest of all Mumbaikars.”

source: Mumba Mirror

Choking dust, bumpy and dug up roads, broken drainage lines, shoddy infrastructure – for Mumbaikars, this is the daily-lived reality. But in one particular area, the situation seems even grimmer, with potential health ramifications. The massive work undertaken by BMC of installing drainage pipelines throughout Pratiksha Nagar, in Sion, has become a source of misery for residents of the area, who claim the project has made their lives a living hell.

Every road from Sion station to Pratiksha Nagar has been dug up and left open. People are facing health issues, school buses and waste collection trucks find it difficult to pass through the by-lanes, and market areas are so full of dust that the simple act of venturing out becomes a problem.

Swati Deodhar, who has been living in the area for eight years, has developed skin allergy. “We have to wipe everything down twice. Every day,” she says.

“I had to get treatment for skin allergy. It’s also suffocating. Often people here develop throat infection. But the work does not seem to be getting over. Politicians continue to make promises, but nothing ever gets done.”

Pratiksha Nagar, one of the oldest localities in Mumbai, has most of the MHADA housing and a large number of transit camps. When it was first developed, plans for basic amenities such as roads, drainage pipes and markets were not included. Over the years, as the population increased, the situation became critical.

“We are ready to face inconvenience if some facilities are being built. But there needs to be some planning,” says advocate H R Chavan, who lives in the judges’ colony.

“While repairing the drainage pipeline in our area, some other pipeline was damaged, which the contractor refused to repair. This added to our woes. We are not against the work but it should be completed in a planned manner.”

It’s not just the residents facing problems; shopkeepers and vendors too find it difficult to do business. “I have covered my shop with plastic as dust particles spoil the wares,” Vikram Singh, who runs a stationery shop, says.

A vegetable vendor who does not want to be quoted says he has lost many customers. “People don’t want to buy vegetables coated in fine dust,” he says.

“We too are directly exposed. Sometimes drainage water is thrown on the road during repair works, which makes the situation very bad.”

Shiv Sena corporator from Pratiksha Nagar, Ramdas Kamble, who was elected in a by-poll seven months ago, says the work will take one more year to complete. “The deadline for the road is March 2020. At present, drainage pipelines are being installed. Since the land here was reclaimed, we are using geo grid technology to make the roads,” Kamble says.

Pratiksha Nagar is one of the last areas in the island city to be developed for housing. It was built in the 1970s on reclaimed land. On one side of it are Sion Koliwada and Guru Tegh Bahadar Nagar Station on the Harbour Line. The other side opens to a recently developed road connecting Chunabhatti highway and the Eastern Express Highway.

MHADA constructed about 100 buildings as transit camps in the area and then about 60 to 70 buildings for general housing. Judges and journalists are among those who live there.

source: Mumbai Mirror