Bombay HC: State obliged to provide good roads

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday said that it was the state government’s “constitutional obligation” to ensure pothole-free roads and that was the bare minimum it could do for its citizens.

A division bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Riyaz Chagla was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Owais Pechkar, raising the issue of bad roads and potholes between Panvel and Goa on NH-66 every year during the monsoon.

The state government informed the court on Tuesday that it would carry out concretisation work along one part of the highway which fell under its jurisdiction, by January 2020.

Work on the remaining stretch would be carried out by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) by June 2019.

However, the court said that just concretisation work would not serve the purpose as the issue of potholes arose every year.

“Before carrying out such work, the government and National Highways Authority of India should take expert opinion on what kind of techniques and material to use to ensure that the problem does not arise again.

“Just spending a huge amount of money and time on the work will not serve any purpose,” Justice Oka said.

“It is the authorities’ constitutional obligation to ensure that roads under their jurisdiction are maintained properly. Providing roads without potholes is the bare minimum the government and other authorities can do for citizens,” he said.

The division bench has now posted the petition for further hearing on August 7.