Potholes in city turn death traps

Potholes caused three deaths and injuries to several persons in different incidents here in the last two weeks.

Road safety experts say such two-wheeler accidents might not always be fatal but the impact is such that surivor might be crippled for life. The hit will primarily be on the spinal cord. Fractures in hands and legs are common. The situation is worse during the monsoon and winter months, when there is fog. In recent times, the city witnessed several accidents with bike riders falling off their vehicles while either trying to avoid potholes or riding the bike over them. Though the municipal authorities claim they fill potholes, motorists complain that many potholes remained unattended for months.

Motorists say continuous road cutting by multiple departments has left the city roads in a bad shape. “It’s a death trap for us. In some areas, digging works are taken up in the middle of the road.

After laying the pipeline or cables, roads are never re-carpeted.

“A bike rider not familiar with a route will not be aware of such dangers and is likely to be confused especially in the monsoon season. The path might appear like a water-laden one, camouflaging a deadly pothole,” says Chris Adam, a software employee who travels from Kompally to Madhapur for work every day.

In one such case, a day earlier, a biker broke his leg after falling in a pothole on the busy Erragadda ESI Stretch.

Doctors claim that the injuries caused by potholes are mostly in the neck and on the backbone.

“Road maintenance is done only at select places,” said the chief functionary of the Indian Federation of Road Safety, Vinod Kumar Kanumala. “White toppings for the roads is a good alternative to prevent potholes but it prevents water absorption and ends up with stagnation of water on the road. The potholes are the most accident prone zone especially in the monsoon season,” said Kanumala.