HC irked as ‘pothole-committees’ fail to compensate victims of bad roads

The Bombay High Court on Monday questioned why the district-level committees directed to compensate victims of pothole-related deaths were not acting as told

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday questioned why the district-level committees directed to compensate victims of pothole-related deaths were not acting as told.

Thane, India - September -16, 2025::pothole at Bhaynder pada ,Potholes on Ghodbunder Road and the poor condition of the road led to a protest by residents of Ghodbunder ,in Thane ,in Mumbai, India, on, Tuesday, September -16, 2025. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

A division-bench of justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh Patil was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to make urban local authorities and contractors liable for compensation to victims of pothole-related deaths and injuries. The PIL said that these accidents and deaths were caused by ill-maintained roads that civic bodies are responsible for.

Last month, the court had directed urban and rural civic bodies to form committees and determine cases where victims were eligible for compensation of up to ₹6 lakh for deaths and up to ₹25,000 for injuries linked to potholes on ill-maintained roads.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PBM) filed affidavits before the high court that they had constituted the committees as directed, but no complaints had been reported yet.

“Why haven’t BMC and TMC acted upon the reports that led to the directions,” the judges asked the representatives of the local bodies. “We remember that there were at least two incidents in Thane and one in Mumbai that we have specifically mentioned in our order. The committee ought to take up those cases at least. There is nothing stopping you from taking those up,” the bench said.

Anil Sakhre, senior advocate for the BMC responded, “In Mumbai, various authorities are responsible for various roads. Certain roads have still not been handed over to us by other authorities for maintenance. We can only be liable for the roads that are within our limits and that are maintained by us.”

However, the court said, “There can’t be a no man’s road. We will direct all the authorities involved to pay compensation jointly. We are only concerned with the pothole death victims. The objective is not to make the citizens run from pillar to post,” the court said.

Representatives of the civic bodies told the court that the Directorate of Municipal Administration, working under Urban Development Department, had taken steps to sensitise civic authorities about implementing the court’s direction.

The court now awaits affidavits by other municipal corporations, councils, nagar parishads, etc, in the matter of the compensations.