Pothole to Police Station: Hyderabad Man Files FIR Against Municipal Body After Injury Due to Bad Roads

Hyderabad: Hyderabad police booked a case against the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) after a man filed a complaint alleging that he was injured after his bike slipped because of a pothole.

Syed Azmath Hussain Jaffery (35) filed a complaint at the Dabeerpura Police Station after his bike slipped because of a pothole and he fractured his right ankle as a result of the accident.

“It wasn’t even raining heavily, yet the roads had stagnated water. This particular pothole also had water in it. My speed was under control- how much more careful can citizens be for their lives?” Jaffery told News18.

Dabeerpura police filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Thursday following Jaffery's complaint, and booked the GHMC under Section 228 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The FIR was not filed immediately as the pothole in question had been filled by the civic body before the police could reach out to it.

“We did not reach out to the GHMC- they had filled the pothole before that. We have booked a case and investigation is underway,” Dabeerpura Station Officer Satyanarayana told News18.

Jaffery's story gained traction on the social media, leading to a number of citizens lashing out at the municipal authorities for negligence of civic maintenance and for overlooking complaints.

“More people need to file such complaints and get cases booked against these municipal officials. At least then the government will respond.” a user said on Twitter.

The GHMC has been under the scanner since heavy rains lashed the city this monsoon, causing severe water logging in most areas. Citizens were reportedly stranded on roads for hours, even when there were light showers.

In low-lying areas of Hyderabad such as Malkajgiri and Anandbagh, residents were trapped in their homes, with water stagnated in the ground floors, and without electricity.

Following heavy rainfall in August, the GHMC identified 987 patches of roads which were in a bad condition with as many as 4,000 potholes.

The civic body also said that the restoration of the dilapidated patches would cost close to Rs 50 crores.