Pothole costs 74-year old Rs 2 lakh, 3 fractures

Mumbai: There are bad roads, and then there are Mumbai roads, which can be rightly said now to have the distinction of being bone-breaking, in addition to being back-breaking.

Ask Ambernath resident Ramdas Wani who knows the lethal difference only too well.

The 74-year-old tripped on a pothole while on his bike last Saturday. The fallout was excruciating fractures on both his legs as well as in his right hip, which had already undergone a replacement surgery eight years ago.

Wani said, "On Saturday afternoon, I was coming back home on my Scooty from the bank.

At a junction, I found myself surrounded by vehicles on either side and to my front. All of a sudden, the bike in front of me stopped, forcing me to brake hard over a big pothole. As I fell, my bike fell on my legs."

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Wani will now have to undergo three surgeries, costing him close to Rs 2 lakh. A rod has been inserted in his right leg, for which he has paid Rs 60,000 already.

And though his hip requires treatment again, doctors are concerned about redoing the surgery owing to his advanced age.

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"It is horrible. I cannot bear the pain," Wani said.

Dr Mukesh Chauhan of Prabha hospital, where Wani is currently admitted, said, "Wani has fractured both his legs.

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One has been treated. His hip is causing him immense pain and we will have to check that too. He is likely to undergo two more operations which will cost him  well over Rs 1 lakh."

Daughter too
Wani's daughter, Sunita, has also been a victim of atrocious potholes. A week ago, she was riding on a bike in Ambernath when the vehicle tripped on a pothole.

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Sunita said, "I was the first victim of potholes in my family. My friend and I were on the bike, when she spotted a giant pothole. She veered to the right to avoid it, but a speeding biker behind us collided with our bike.

Because of the momentum, we both got dragged along with him for some distance. We were all injured."

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She added, "The councillors should think of repairing the roads rather than celebrating festivals."

Dr Chauhan further said, "I work with two other hospitals, Swami Sawanand and Century Rayon, where every week, I get at least four cases of accidents caused by potholes."

Rajesh Kanade, chief officer, Ambernath Municipal Council, was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to get in touch with him.