Mumbai: Maharashtra PWD minister Chandrakant Patil has claimed that pothole-ridden roads cannot be entirely blamed for accidents, even as five people lost their lives in the Mumbai region due to damaged roads in the last two weeks.
Patil said in Sangli on Saturday, “When you talk about a death in such an accident, you forget that five lakh other people have travelled on the same road. You cannot put the entire blame on the (condition of) roads alone.”
However, he quickly added that he did not have all the information about the recent accidents, and action would be taken against officials based on the facts of each case.
When questioned about people’s anger towards the apathy of the civic bodies and the state government, Patil said, “People have a habit of changing their opinions constantly. They will like something for a while and soon pass a negative remark (on the same issue).”
The opposition Congress termed the minister’s comment as insensitive.
“Patil was questioning people’s view of roads, but he will understand what people can do after elections,” said state Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant. “Government is not expected to run away by raising doubts about accident deaths. We condemn the minister for his insensitive comment,” Sawant tweeted on Sunday.
Accidents on pothole-ridden roads claimed four lives in Kalyan area in the last two weeks. Another death was reported in Navi Mumbai. In all these cases, victims lost their balance and fell when their two-wheelers hit a pothole.
According to government data, potholes claimed almost 10 lives daily, with annual fatalities in the country adding up to 3,597 — a more than 50% rise over the toll for 2016.
Maharashtra earned the dubious distinction of recording a doubling of deaths at 726 every year, as reported by the Times of India.
The severity of the issue can be gauged from the fact that terrorist activities in India, Naxal attacks included, claimed 803 lives in 2017. According to data shared by states with the Centre, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of deaths at 987, followed by Maharashtra.
(With inputs from PTI)
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