INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Five people have lost lives due to damaged roads in Mumbai
statement came even as five people lost their lives due to damaged roads in the Mumbai region in the last two weeks.Speaking to reporters in
Sangli yesterday, Mr Patil said, "When you talk about a death in such an accident, you forget that five lakh other people have travelled on
You can not put the entire blame on the (condition of) roads alone." The senior minister hastened to add that he did not have all the
information about the recent accidents, and action will be taken against officials based on the facts of each case
Family members of the deceased will get due compensation, he said.Asked about people slamming civic bodies and the state government over the
bad roads on social media, Patil said,"People have a habit of changing their opinions constantly
They will like something for a while and soon pass a negative remark (on the same issue)."Opposition Congress termed the minister's
comment as insensitive.Mr Patil was questioning people's view of roads, but he will understand what people can do after elections, said
state Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant."Government is not expected to run away by raising doubts about accident deaths
We condemn the minister for his insensitive comment," Mr Sawant tweeted today.Accidents on pothole-ridden roads claimed four lives in Kalyan
area in the last two weeks
Another death was reported in Navi Mumbai
In all these cases, victims lost balance and fell when their two-wheelers hit a pothole.Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam claimed today
that there were 20,000 potholes on Mumbai roads, and not 300 as stated by the civic body BMC before the Bombay High Court.He was going to
"file an FIR" against chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray (whose party rules the BMC), the municipal
commissioner and the mayor for the bad roads, he said.
