Govt ad declares accident victims of Bengaluru's bad roads will get compensation

The Karnataka High Court was not pleased that the BBMP has not issued a circular about this yet.

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The BBMP put out an advertisement on Wednesday that announced compensation for victims of accidents caused due to poor condition of roads and pavements, but the civic body has yet to issue a circular on the matter.

This comes after the Karnataka High Court directed the BBMP to award damages to victims of road accidents back in July. This was in response to PIL filed by Citizens Action Forum that sought to move the court to give compensation to those who were adversely affected by the condition of bad roads.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and comprising of Justice PM Nawaz observed that tax-paying citizens are at a high risk of getting injured due to the bad condition of roads. Prior to the judgement, victims had to move the court to seek compensation.

In order to avoid going to court over the issue, the judges held that any aggrieved party can directly approach the civic body for compensation.

Read: BBMP should pay compensation to victims of pothole-related accidents: K’taka HC

However, most people were not aware of this provision due to the lack of advertising this provision by the BBMP. They were directed to put up signboards all over the city to advertise this, but the High Court has rapped the BBMP multiple times for failing to advertise the compensation provision.

It is to be noted that even though the advertisement is out, the BBMP has still not issued any circular or amendment to this effect, with no information of what the compensation amount shall be or the procedure to avail the compensation.

This means that there is no legal basis for getting any compensation, without an order from the Urban Development Department, or a change in their act.

The process will take a minimum of one month, BBMP Commissioner Anil Kumar has stated. When asked why the advertisement was put out without any explanation about the process behind it, he says, “The High Court has ordered us to do it, failing which, it would initiate contempt of court proceedings. We are yet to meet with the Council to determine the details,” he says.

Read: Inform Bengalureans on how to seek relief for accidents due to potholes: HC to BBMP