Mumbai's 1st Pothole Death This Monsoon: Man Falls Off Bike After Hitting Crater, Run Over By Dumper

News18

6 days ago

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The police said that while the 59-year-old slowed down to dodge potholes on Powai's Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, the dumper driver hit him from behind
In what may be Mumbai's first pothole death of the season, Andheri resident Lalu Kamble, 59, was run over by a dumper after he fell off his scooter when it hit a water-filled pothole on Powai's Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road on Saturday. The Powai police arrested the dumper driver, Sajid Khan, 25. He is out on bail.
The incident took place around 2.25pm on Saturday at NTPC junction, when the deceased, Lalu Kamble, was on his way towards Vikhroli.
The police said that while Kamble had slowed down his bike to dodge the potholes, Shaikh did not gauge the state of the road and hit Kamble from behind, the TOI reported.
Lalu's son, Vijay Kamble, 32, said the doctors said that his father had died due to severe headache injuries.
Lalu's friend Rajan Mankikar, a social activist, said that there was a delay of nearly two hours in rushing the injured to the hospital. 'It took one hour for the ambulance to arrive and then the vehicle was stuck in traffic," Mankikar told HT, adding that he would approach the police to book even the civic officials responsible for the maintenance of the road.
Vijay said that there is a nearly one-foot deep pothole along that road. He alleged that his father lost balance on that pothole and was then hit by the dumber. 'The state of the road there is pathetic. When we went with the police to the spot, a biker was about to fall due to the same pothole. This is complete negligence on the part of the government," Vijay told HT.
What has BMC done to address pothole menace?
News18 had reported how to address the pothole menace swiftly and efficiently, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a mobile application called Pothole QuickFix, along with a dedicated WhatsApp chatbot (number: 8999228999). Both platforms aim to make pothole reporting faster, easier, and more transparent for citizens.
The app was launched on June 9 by BMC commissioner and administrator Bhushan Gagrani. It is now live on both Android and iOS platforms and offers a simple, user-friendly interface. Citizens can click a photo of a pothole, tag the location, add a short description, and submit the complaint—all in under five clicks.
Once a complaint is filed, it goes directly to the concerned department, triggering the repair process immediately. The app also allows users to track the status of their complaint, check estimated repair times, and even give feedback once the work is completed. If users are unhappy with the response, they can reopen the complaint. The BMC has set a clear target: fix potholes within 48 hours of complaint registration. If a pothole isn't fixed on time, the issue is escalated to senior officials for urgent action. Citizens also receive SMS updates about the progress and final closure of their complaints.
Has it helped?
The FPJ reported how over 6,758 cases of potholes were reported from June to mid-July. Andheri West (K/West ward) topped the list with 488 complaints, closely followed by Bhandup (S ward) with 453.
Even as the BMC achieved 49 per cent completion in its Rs 17,000-crore mega road concretisation drive, the total number of potholes and thereby their complaints have, in fact, witnessed an 8 per cent rise this year, in comparison to the same period last year, the Indian Express reported.
With Agency Inputs
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