‘Gross apathy of CM led to pothole death’

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: On Monday, most political parties vented their anger against the ruling BJP government and the municipal body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) over the consistent rise in the number of deaths due to potholes in the city.

During the late hours of Saturday, a car driver hit a motorbike while trying to navigate through a pothole, which resulted in the death of the pillion rider immediately. The deceased has been identified as Harshad Shah, a 24-year-old from Kerala, studying at a private college in the city.

He sustained grievous injuries to his head after the mishap, leading to his death, while the bike rider, Rahul has also suffered major injuries and is in critical condition, receiving treatment. The cops have ascertained that the accident occurred due to the car driver losing control while navigating potholes on the Attur Main Road located in Yelahanka New Town.

While the car driver has fled the scene, the Yelahanka traffic police have registered a case against him and BBMP engineers after a complaint by a friend, Sreeraj Sreedharan. He has held BBMP engineers responsible for the death, as their shoddy work has led to the potholes.

Currently, the BBMP has only filled the pothole responsible for the accident temporarily, with sand and asphalt stones. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members staged a protest at Freedom Park and demanded accountability from the municipal body as well as the chief minister.

While the protesters attempted to march towards the corporation circle to reach the BBMP head office, they were stopped by police. The Karnataka Rashtra Samithi (KRS) also staged a protest at the spot of the accident by conducting a ‘pinda dana’, a ritual performed after the death of a person, to the BBMP. “Shocking & Shameful! The criminal negligence & gross apathy of CM, the corrupt #BBMP & his #PotHoleBommaiSarkar has claimed another life of a Bangalorean.

Time to put out a warning ‘Bommai Govt & BBMP are dangerous to the health of Bangaloreans & Kannadigas’!,” wrote Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on his twitter, slamming the BJP government. The High Court last week put to check the civic body’s work and said that the BBMP has entirely failed in taking its orders seriously and filling the potholes on Bengaluru roads.