BENGALURU: Even after killer potholes claimed four lives in the city, the city police have not filed a single complaint against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. The civic agency is responsible for upkeep of the city’s roads. Even National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is not that immune. A woman lost her life in a pothole-related accident that occurred on the National Highway between Doddaballapur and Devanahalli on Tuesday.
An FIR was filed against NHAI at Vishwanathapura police station by the family of the deceased. Four people lost their lives in three accidents, of which two occurred in BBMP limits. Both these accidents were, by the admission of the authorities themselves, partly caused by potholes. The BBMP even announced compensation to the kin of the deceased in both the cases. And yet, the FIRs in both cases, which were accessed online, blame rash and negligent driving by the driver and do not mention BBMP at all. This is despite the fact that in one of the cases, the kin of the deceased wanted to lodge a complaint against the civic body. Anjanappa, husband of Radha (47), who died in an accident at Nayandahalli on October 8, has not yet seen the FIR that was filed based on his complaint. Anjanappa said, “The police are not recording our statements.
They keep asking us to come back the next day to collect the FIR,” he said. Anjanappa and Radha’s son Manjunath said, “We want to file a complaint against the BBMP because the accident took place due to a pothole.” When Byatarayanapura police inspector H R Balakrishna Raju was asked about this over phone, he denied that the accident in question was caused due to a pothole. He further claimed that for one accident, only one complaint can be registered and since an FIR had already been prepared, no other complaint can be accepted. He said, “Had they (Radha’s relatives) said they wanted to lodge a complaint against the BBMP earlier, we would have done so and taken up an investigation against the civic agency.”
The inspector also said that the FIR, which the relatives say they have not seen, was filed by the relatives themselves. When asked if Radha’s son Manjunath coud file a complaint, the inspector said, “This (a complaint against the BBMP) does not come under us, let him file it with the (BBMP) Commissioner. Already one FIR has been filed. How many FIRs do you want us to file? Please come and speak to us at the station.” He then abruptly disconnected the call. In the case of the other potholerelated accident on Mysuru Road flyover in the wee hours on October 3, which killed an elderly couple, the family is considering filing a complaint against BBMP.