A pothole leaves her broken, bedridden

The potholes on city roads are getting wider and deeper, thus making travelling very dangerous.

A crater on a road has rendered Chitra Meena, a 45-year-old woman, bedridden. She was riding pillion on her husband Rajkumar’s motorbike while returning home in Malviya Nagar from Shastri Nagar on Friday night. She had gone there to visit some relatives.

On the way, their bike fell in a big pothole. Rajkumar and Chitra - both fell on the road. The streetlights are lying defunct in that area.

In the mishap, Chitra suffered a compound fracture in her spinal cord. A bone completely breaks into two pieces in a compound fracture. Chitra has been in an intensive care unit (ICU) at a private hospital since.

This is not the only instance that sheds light on the condition of roads in Pink City.

Many mishaps have happened in the last two months due to potholes and craters on roads in the city. Defunct streetlights are only adding to the woes of commuters.

“As my wife cried in deep pain after she fell, I knew that something tragic had happened. I tried to lift her but she was writhing in pain and could not sit or stand. I called the ambulance and rushed her to a nearby hospital where doctors gave the horrible news. Her backbone had a compound fracture,” said Rajkumar. 

“I wonder where the tax paid by a common man goes. We pay the road tax but where is the development. Where are the street lights, what is the government doing?” he asked.

Meanwhile, most of the people probably don’t know but a 158-year-old law gives common man the right to sue the government and civic agencies for compensation in case of a fatal accident due to a pothole-ridden road, an open manhole or a hanging live wire.