Killer pothole claims woman a month before her wedding in Bhiwandi

Neha Alamgir Shaikh. Pic/Hanif Patel

Another young life has been lost due to pothole-ridden roads, this time in Bhiwandi. A woman doctor, who had recently completed her studies and was going to get married in a month, was crushed to death by a truck after she fell off a bike that had skidded over potholes.

The incident happened around 10.50 pm on Wednesday when Neha Alamgir Shaikh, 23, was heading home with her cousin Shadab Shaikh, who was riding the bike, after shopping for her wedding at Bhiwandi. When they reached dugad fata in Thane, their bike skidded over a pothole-ridden road and Neha, who was riding pillion, slipped and fell on the road. While Neha was run over by a truck that was right behind them, Shadab survived with minor injuries. The truck driver fled the scene.

Locals and several members of the Shramjivi Sanghatana, which work for tribal welfare, rushed to the spot and shut Angaon Toll Booth on the Bhiwandi-Wada road. They alleged that the cratered stretch has claimed many lives this year and demanded that a case be registered against the Public Works Department (PWD) and Supreme Infrastructure Pvt Ltd that was given the contract of road construction and maintenance, said a cop from Ganeshpuri police station.

The pothole-ridden stretch of road where Neha Alamgir Shaikh, a resident of Kudus, fell and was run over on Bhiwandi-Wada road. Pic/Hanif Patel

Shramjivi Sanghatana president Pramod Pawar said the PWD gave Supreme Infrastructure the project in 2013, however, installation of street lights, construction of minor bridges and divider are still pending. Several requests to the PWD and the firm to fix the road were ignored and last month, two women died in separate pothole-related incidents,
Pawar said.

The Ganeshpuri police have registered a case against an unidentified person under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence) 279 (rash driving) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC, and various relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act, said Assistant Police Inspector Mahesh Sagade. A resident of Kudus in Wada taluka, Neha had recently graduated in Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery and was to get married on November 7.

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