Family says 28-year-old died trying to dodge highway pothole
Family says 28-year-old died trying to dodge highway pothole
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is in for some legal entanglement. The family of 28-year-old Balu Narayan Shindeu00a0-- who was killed a fortnight ago on NH-4 after a tanker hit him even as he tried to dodge a pothole on the roadu00a0-- has decided to file a case against the NHAI. The family holds NHAI responsible for Shinde's death which it said was caused by the abysmal state of the roads. 
Death trap: The pothole that caused the accident has now been filledu00a0
(below) by the police, but the shoddy job that has been done means it
remains a threat to bikers on NH-4. pics/Krunal Gosavi
Shinde's family has taken photographs of the exact location of the spot where the accident took place and the crater which caused Shinde's two-wheeler to collide with the tanker. The pothole on the highway was later filled up with soil and bricks by the police. "It is the duty of the NHAI to maintain the roads. My brother has lost his life only because of poor maintenance of the highway. I am going to court to get justice," said Popat, brother of Shinde.
In middle of road
The only eyewitness and survivor of the accident was the pillion rider Ramzan Pathan (50). Pathan had said that the pothole was in the middle of the road and could not be seen because of the downpour. "Shinde realised a little too late that there was a pothole and when he suddenly turned, he was hit by a tanker from behind," Pathan said.
Shinde sustained injures and was declared dead at the Aundh Hospital. In the accident report, Police Havaldar S A Shaikh of Hinjewadi police station had mentioned the pothole on the stretch where the mishap took place. He also stated that Shinde's death was owing to multiple head injuries as per the post mortem report from Sassoon hospital.
Popat Shinde said the pothole on the highway was later filled up by the Bavdhan police. Vaishali Kamble, Sarpanch of Bavdhan, said the accident took place in the jurisdiction of the Hinjewadi police station and the highway comes under the jurisdiction of the Pune Municipal Corportation.
Filling up of the pothole on the highway was done by the Bavdhan police which is under the jurisdiction of the Hinjewadi police station, Kamble said. Anilkumar Sharma, director, Maharashta and Goa, NHAI was not available on telephone for comment.
Grim statistics
Accidents on the Mumbai-Bangalore highway on the Pune to Khandala stretch from January-July this year
Fatal accidents: 18
Deaths: 19
Serious accidents: 15;
Injured:u00a0 22
Minor accidents: 19
Injured: 19
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