• News
  • City News
  • delhi News
  • Four years after boy’s death on potholed road, Faridabad police charge executives of two firms
This story is from October 18, 2018

Four years after boy’s death on potholed road, Faridabad police charge executives of two firms

Four years after boy’s death on potholed road, Faridabad police charge executives of two firms
File photo of deceased Pavitra (3)
NEW DELHI: For Manoj Wadhwa, a telecom engineer, it has been a painful journey for the past four-and-a-half years since he lost his first child, Pavitra (3) on the national highway in Faridabad in a road accident blamed on potholes.
Only last week, a special investigation team (SIT) of Faridabad Police submitted a report against six executives of Larsen & Toubro and Delhi-Agra Toll Road Private Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Infra, in a local court charging them with negligence.

The city police also filed a status report in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday stating that the SIT had found the directors and project managers of the two companies responsible for the mishap which occurred at Bata Chowk on February 10, 2014. The two agencies are responsible for construction and maintenance of the Delhi-Agra highway.
pothole

Recalling the tragedy, Manoj said: "We were returning from a family function from Ballabhgarh on my bike. Pavitra was sitting between me and my wife. It all happened within seconds. I spotted a pool of water on the highway and applied brakes. I lost balance due to the potholes. Pavitra fell on a sharp stone on his chest. My wife also fell and a vehicle coming from behind ran over her legs."
He said while he rushed his wife to a private hospital, some people took Pavitra to another hospital where the child was declared dead on arrival.

Manoj said the battle is on and he would fight the case until all the agencies and their representatives, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the independent engineer appointed by the authority to ensure norms are followed, are held accountable for their negligence.
As per 2017 data, nearly ten people die due to pothole-related deaths every day in the country but the agencies responsible for road construction or maintenance are seldom booked for negligence.
For Manoj, it has been a long battle. He recalled how his communications to NHAI, the Haryana government, National Human Rights Commission and Faridabad police initially failed to get any response. Left with no option, he filed a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September, 2016. The HC passed interim orders asking NHAI to act.
Unhappy with the progress, he filed a contempt case in the HC last July. The court made Faridabad Police a party in this case. But police maintained that they were trying to trace the unknown vehicle which hit his wife, Manoj said. The court later directed police to identify the persons responsible for the potholed road. This prompted police to set up the SIT, which nailed the agencies responsible.
"The fight is not just for my son. Why can't agencies take steps to avoid such tragedies? Why can't we have a protocol to identify and fill our potholes? The practice of paying Rs 4-5 lakh compensation for each death should stop. How can government simply end the matter fixing such a price for any human life," Manoj said.
The case is now scheduled for hearing in the high court on December 5.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA