Hemant Patil and Mahendra Fating, both 19, were looking forward to returning home after a full day of work, but they hadn't imagined their life would have a tragic end. Hemant, a resident of Palghar and Mahendra from Nagpur died in road accidents after their vehicles skidded. Cause: pothole-ridden roads in Maharashtra.
Hemant was driving on the Wada-Bhiwandi Highway in Palghar when his scooter collided with a trailer and skidded. Hemant died on the spot. The teenager used to work at the Blue Star Company in Vasuri and was the sole breadwinner of the family.
Mahendra Fating died after falling into a water-logged pothole along with his motorcycle in Nagpur. Mahendra suffered serious head injuries and died on the spot.
Mahendra is reportedly the nephew of former councillor Sarita Ishwar Kaware. Police have sent the victim's body to Mayo Hospital for a post-mortem. Further investigation into the case is underway.
Locals allege that despite claims of ongoing development work in the city, the condition of the roads remains extremely poor, and blame the administration's negligence for frequent accidents.
To bring the administration's attention to the sorry state of roads, which, according to the locals, are inviting death, citizens put garlands around potholes. Large potholes on the roads leading from Nashik to the Trimbakeshwar Temple are proving fatal for citizens.
The Nationalist Youth Congress also performed a special ceremony near the potholes for those who died due to these potholes.
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule shared visuals of roads in Baramati, which have "fallen into disrepair."
"There are potholes at many places, while at some spots the asphalt has worn off, exposing the gravel underneath. Notably, the Jejuri-Kolvihire road was constructed just a few days ago," Ms Sule noted in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"It is evident that the work on this road was of poor quality, and now travelling on both these roads has become extremely difficult," she added.
