Take immediate measures to avoid deaths due to potholes on Mumbai-Goa highway: Bombay HC

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation seeking directions that steps be taken to fix and cover potholes on NH-66, which is prone to accidents.

The Bombay High Court on Friday told the Maharashtra public works department (PWD) and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to immediately fix and cover potholes on the Mumbai-Goa National Highway (NH). It also demanded that parts of the road, where work is going on for widening the highway, is properly barricaded to avoid loss of lives.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) – filed by Owais Anwar Pechkar, a resident of Chiplun city in Konkan, and a regular commuter on Mumbai-Goa highway – seeking directions that steps be taken to fix and cover potholes on NH-66, which is prone to accidents.

Pechkar claimed that the Centre, the NHAI and the state government have not taken sufficient steps to resolve various issues faced by commuters travelling on the road, which is being widened into a four-lane road. The road widening work, delayed for years, causes difficulties for commuters, he added.

On Friday, the bench orally observed, “The situation on the highway is not good. We want PWD and NHAI to look into immediate issues, including the potholes. Monsoon is here. Accidents might happen and safety measures need to be taken.”

While seeking to know when the work will be completed, HC also sought a progress report on the highway widening work from the authorities.

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