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Pothole Deaths: Bombay High Court Tears into Civic Apathy, Seeks Compensation Plan
Moneylife Digital Team 15 September 2025
Public Interest
Coming down heavily on civic authorities across Maharashtra for their failure to tackle the state’s recurring pothole menace, the Bombay High Court (HC) held them responsible for deaths and injuries caused by dangerous road conditions. The bench of justice Revati Mohite Dere and justice Sandesh D Patil, hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on potholes, minced no words in calling out the 'apathy' of municipal corporations and state agencies such as the public works department (PWD) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
 
Expressing anguish over mounting casualties, the HC asked bluntly: “How much compensation will you pay for the deaths and injuries due to your negligence? Why should people suffer without any fault of their own?” 
 
It directed the state to submit data from police stations on fatalities and injuries linked to potholes and to provide details of ambulances dispatched to such accident sites. The Court further ordered that assistant commissioners of municipal corporations and a senior officer from MSRDC be present at the next hearing on 18 September 2028, when the question of compensation will be taken up.
 
Amicus curiae advocate Jamshed Mistry emphasised that beyond fatalities, numerous people suffer grievous injuries, losing livelihoods and bearing heavy medical costs. He urged the court to establish a mechanism similar to public liability insurance, where authorities—not citizens—bear the costs of treatment. 
 
In March 2023, advocate Mistry and advocate Dipesh Siroya, the amicus curiae in the case, had submitted the 'Report on Public Liability Insurance in India' prepared by Moneylife Foundation. At that time, the HC remarked that public liability insurance was a very good suggestion, especially for the victims of such incidents. (Read: Moneylife Foundation's Report Seeks Mandatory Public Liability Insurance in India for All Public Spaces) 
 
Frustrated with the lack of preparedness from civic lawyers, the HC says chief engineers of corporations where fatalities occurred must be held personally accountable. “Somebody in the family dies, then the livelihood of the entire family is affected. The breadwinner has died due to negligence. Be well-prepared, be ready to pay compensation,” the judges observed.
 
During the hearing, lawyer Ruju Thakker cited media reports documenting five deaths in just the past two months due to pothole-ridden roads—three in Bhiwandi, one in Kalyan and one in Powai. She argued that official claims about repairing potholes after complaints were 'mere eyewash', pointing out that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had missed its 30 April 2025 deadline to concretise all city roads. 
 
The Court, reviewing photographs of gaping road damage, remarked: “These are not potholes, these are craters. Sorry, but unless you have put a blindfold on your eyes, how can anyone say the corporation is doing its work?”
 
Citizen groups echoed the Court’s criticism. Dhaval Shah of the Lokhandwala and Oshiwara Citizens Association says compensation must not come from taxpayer funds but be recovered directly from negligent officials, warning, “If compensation is paid from BMC funds, it’s ultimately taxpayers’ money.” 
 
Vinod Gholap of the Fight for Right Foundation added that, despite repeated assurances, “roads are still riddled with potholes and citizens continue to suffer.”
 
According to official data from BMC, between 4th June and 13 September 2025, more than 14,000 potholes were reported in Mumbai, though the corporation disputes nearly 4,000 of those complaints as unrelated. As of last week, 361 potholes still remain unfilled.
 
The pothole PIL itself dates back to 2013, when the Court first intervened on deteriorating road and footpath conditions. While the HC had in 2018 directed civic bodies to repair potholes across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), compliance has been patchy. Last year, the Court stopped short of holding authorities in contempt but revived the PIL, underlining that citizens’ safety cannot be compromised.
 
With fatalities continuing, despite years of court orders, the latest rebuke signals that civic apathy may no longer be tolerated. The bench has made clear that unless authorities take urgent, visible action, they will be forced to assume financial and legal responsibility for every life lost to Maharashtra’s cratered roads.
 
Comments
iaminprabhu
3 months ago
BLINDFOLDS on Brains (not just eyes) of EVERY WARD Engineer, Politician sitting as Corporators, MLA - MP is the reason of APATHY towards condition of FOOTPATHS (unauthorized occupation & sick condition) & trampling on Pedestrian rights of Walking Children, Women, Senior citizens is primary!

Roads POTHOLES & Deaths are also ongoing never ending saga of tragedies affecting thousands (where death happens) BUT LAKHS who daily travel continue to suffer! Only roads from South Mumbai, HC or Mantralaya to Malbar Hill where they stay will always be PERFECT, while rest of BMC wards, TMC KDMC & Other Municipal Corporation roads have gone to dogs
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