Kalyan’s Potholes Kill 4 in 2 Months – But Nobody Is to Blame!

Kalyan’s killer potholes have claimed 4 lives in 2 months while authorities pass the buck.

Screenshots of the CCTV video that captured Manisha Bhoir’s death. (Inset) Manisha Bhoir.

(Photo altered by The Quint)

Four lives lost in just 30 days.

1. Aarav Atharale, 5

2. Manisha Bhoir, 40

3. Hasim Hanif Shaikh, 40

4. Anna, 45

Only then did civic bodies in Kalyan (just north of Mumbai) accept that their roads, riddled with potholes, have become death traps.

Civic Bodies: We Didn’t Kill Manisha Bhoir

40-year-old Manisha Bhoir, a school attendant, was crushed under a bus after the bike she was riding pillion on skidded on a pothole on 7 July. Disturbing CCTV footage shows her falling after the bike hits the pothole, and then being hit by an oncoming bus. As her family tries to come to terms with her death, they demand the civic body take responsibility.

No one has approached us for compensation. The civic authorities should do something. KDMC is saying the road comes under MSRDC because it comes on the highway, but it is in Kalyan, right? Who is responsible?

Manoj Nichte, Manisha’s Brother 

Manisha’s family have written to the police demanding an investigation into the role of the civic bodies. But only one person has been booked in the case so far – the bus driver. He has been booked for causing death by negligence.

The bus driver has been arrested under Section 304A and section 134 of Motor vehicle Act. The family had also filed an application against the MSRDC and KDMC, we are investigating into this. We are also taking into account that the section of the road where it happened is in a corner, it was waterlogged, and the road was slippery. The MSRDC is now making repairs to level the road.

P Londhe, senior police inspector 

We Didn’t Kill Little Aarav Either...

Manisha’s case is eerily similar to that of five-year-old Aarav Atharale’s. Aarav died at the exact same stretch in the Shivaji Chowk area of Kalyan after he was thrown off his father’s bike when it hit a pothole. The minor was crushed under a truck as soon as he fell on the road. In Aarav’s case too, only the truck driver has been booked by the police.

Had the civic authorities repaired the roads soon after I lost my son in the accident, then the other poor woman (Manisha) would not have died. She wouldn’t have met with an accident. My son cannot be returned to me but I wrote a letter to the KDMC, requesting them to repair the road so that no more lives are lost.

Mahesh Athrale, Aarav’s Father 

(Left) Manish Bhoir & (Right) Aarav Athrale lost their lives along the same stretch of potholes in Kalyan.

“My wife cries all day, only I know how I console her daily. She is 8 months pregnant and her health is being affected because of this,” adds Mahesh. Potholes along the Shivaji Chowk area were only repaired after the loss of two lives.

And We Didn’t Kill Hasim or Anna...

In another instance, 40-year-old Hasim Shaikh, a chicken-seller from Kalyan, was on his way to work in an auto rickshaw at about 8 am on 10 July. That’s when a truck hit a giant pothole and went crashing into the vehicle Shaikh was riding.

While the autorickshaw driver and another passenger survived with serious bruising, Hasim Shaikh didn’t. The police arrested the truck driver, who told them that he wasn’t able to judge the size of the pothole as it was covered with water.

Another 45-year-old man, who has been identified as Anna, was crushed under a truck at Dwarli Naka in Kalyan. Anna was heading to his workplace – a cowshed – when he stumbled on a pothole and fell. He was immediately crushed by a passing truck. In this case too, the police arrested the truck driver.

KDMC, MSRDC, MIDC, PWD... Nobody Owns Up

When questioned about the four deaths caused by potholes, Govind Bodke, commissioner of the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation, said that two of the deaths occurred in MSRDC’s jurisdiction and another in an area that belonged to the Public Works Departments (PWD) – and these were not in the KDMC’s jurisdiction.

In the limits of the KDMC, there are four different agencies which belong to roads. There’s KDMC, MSRDC, some roads in Dombivali come under the PWD department and some come under MIDC. Today, I have met with all the concerned officers, DCP traffic, all the concerned departments and teams concerned with repairing potholes and levelling roads.

Govind Bodke, commissioner of the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation 

“Due to heavy rains over the 2-3 days, we are facing problems while working. It’s very difficult to fill potholes. If we use a hot mix, it washes away as soon as it rains heavily,” he added.

MSRDC officials meanwhile, are yet to respond to questions asked by The Quint.

Activists believe that the civic body must be held accountable for accidents caused due to potholes. Only then can such incidents be curbed.

It is not fair to charge only the driver but those who have contributed to whatever led to this mishap should be held accountable and must be arrested. In these cases, punishments happen under a prescribed set of civic rules like departmental inquiries. Here, your one or two increments are withheld or you are suspended. 

Godfrey Pimenta, Lawyer & Founder of Watchdog Foundation

He, however, added that despite filing a criminal case against concerned government officials, families of victims hardly get the justice they deserve.

“If you want to prosecute some government servant, you need prior sanction of the state government. If you apply to state government for sanction to prosecute, the sanction never comes. The whole purpose of criminally prosecuting these people gets defeated,” added Godfrey Pimenta.

The Maharashtra government has now given the civic authorities a week’s time to fix the roads or face action.

I have instructed KDMC commissioner and MSRDC officials to fix potholes right away. If this is not done, then there will be a strict inquiry in a week’s time.

Eknath Shinde, Minister, PWD & Guardian Minister of Thane to The Quint 

(With input from Rounak Kukde)