The petitioner claimed that hundreds of accidents have occurred in the last two years due to potholes on the highway.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday said that if the state is collecting a hefty amount through tolls, why has it failed to fill up the potholes on the roads. The court was hearing a Pubic Interest Litigation (PIL) pertaining to potholes on the Sion-Panvel highway as well as various important roads of the state.

The petitioner claimed that hundreds of accidents have occurred in the last two years due to potholes on the highway.

A division bench comprising of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Bhati Dangre was hearing a PIL filed by activist, Deepak Singh. On Tuesday, the court asked Singh the need for the new PIL as many such PILs are already pending in other courts.

Singh informed to the court that despite several such PILs in the HC, the pothole menace still exists on the roads.

He further said that 341 people have died in the Panvel area itself in the last 30 months, while more than 150 people have died on the Sion-Panvel highway from January 2016 to date. Since neither the state government nor the authorities are taking any responsibility to repair the highway, he had no other option but to approach the Bombay high court.

Singh further informed the court that the state should stop collection of toll money from the people and a judicial panel needs to be set up to conduct an inquiry into the death of people on the roads and concerned authorities and officers should be held responsible for these deaths0.

After hearing Singh, the high court bench asked the state government, PWD and Cidco to file their reply on the petition within two weeks.