This Article is From Aug 28, 2013

Pothole claims the life of a police officer in Thane

Thane: Bad roads have claimed yet another life in Thane.

Tuakram Fadtare, an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police, was returning home after finishing night duty on Tuesday morning, when his motorcycle hit an uneven stretch of road and skid.

Mr Fadtare lost control of the motorcycle, fell, and was run over by a truck which was coming from behind him. He died on the spot.

The accident happened on the Thane-Belapur road where the paver blocks on the road had come off. A case of accidental death has been registered at Kalwa police station in Thane district.

"The stretch near the Witawa Bridge is concretised but in some areas there are paver blocks. Due to the monsoon roads have become uneven and he lost balance because of this following which he was run over by truck. We have arrested the truck driver," said senior police inspector Prakash Nilewad.

Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court had ordered civic bodies in the city and its outskirts to submit a plan by September 3 to tackle potholes and bad roads. At a two-hour hearing of a suo-motu plea on potholes in the Bombay High Court, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other civic bodies had faced the heat from the court, lawyers, experts and activists.

The hearing was attended by BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte, Maharashtra's Chief Secretary Jayant K Banthia, the Urban Development Department and the Public Works Department and Thane Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta. But little has changed on the ground with pothole continuing to claim lives in the city and its outskirts.

.