Bombay HC to officials: Explain bad roads across Maharashtra
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday directed all the municipal corporations, gram panchayats and authorities concerned across Maharashtra to file affidavits in court and state the reasons why they had failed to repair roads. The court was hearing suo motu (on its own) a public interest litigation (PIL) on the “pathetic” condition of roads.
The division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar directed all the civic authorities in the state to explain why they failed to maintain roads. “Let them say they do not have funds or other problems they are facing which is preventing them from maintaining roads so that we can issue appropriate directions,” said Justice Chellur.
The bench has directed the municipal commissioners, urban development department, rural development department as well as district panchayats to ask all the authorities concerned to make a representation before the court on November 8.
The court was hearing a more than decade old suo motu PIL. The PIL was initiated after the high court’s Justice Gautam Patel had written a letter on July 24, 2013 to the then Chief Justice of the Bombay HC highlighting the pathetic condition of roads in Mumbai. He also highlighted that it not only caused hardship and inconvenience to the people at large but also led to causalities, especially among riders of two-wheelers, resulting in spinal injuries or even fatal accidents.
The note written by Justice Patel was on the basis of a newspaper report at that time in which it was indicated that patchwork repairs of the roads had not been successful.
On Thursday, the bench observed that the problem of potholes was not restricted to the roads in Mumbai alone and small towns at Zila Parishad and Panchayat level might also be facing similar problems. Considering this, the bench has included all the civic authorities concerned into this PIL as parties and has asked to come before the court and state reasons for their inability to repair and maintain roads.