Lindsay Pereira: BMC, it's not you, it's me

THE BMC shouldn't be blamed for the state of Bombay's roads. In fact, no one should be held responsible. If the roads deteriorate, it is the rain's fault for not falling gently on our badly paved streets, damaging the casually strewn tar or assorted bits and pieces that go into the filling of our many craters. It is the fault of people who drive on these streets; indeed, even the ones who tread heavily instead of daintily picking their way through the dips and furrows that make up what passes for the Western Express Highway.

Our roads are the fault of people like you and me, who shamelessly use them without thinking about the corporators, engineers or labourers who may be mistakenly held responsible for injuries we cause ourselves. A number of orthopaedic surgeons have pointed out, for years now, that travelling on our city's roads may cause irrevocable damage to our spines. Many say that the roads have cause people to suffer from slipped discs.

Our roads are the fault of people like you and me, who shamelessly use them without thinking about the corporators, engineers or labourers, who may be mistakenly held responsible for injuries we cause ourselves. PIC/datta kumbhar

Gynaecologists have warned pregnant women about premature births and complicated pregnancies caused by bumps on the roads. It is the fault of these women for stepping out and travelling when they ought to stay home and avoid the roads until their children are born. It is also the fault of people who don't exercise their backs regularly before stepping out.

In 2015, Maharashtra reportedly registered 368 deaths in crashes due to potholes and speed breakers, while an additional 224 people reportedly died in crashes on roads that were being ‘repaired' (I use that word loosely, for obvious reasons) or under construction.

A Road Accident Report published in 2014 by the road transport and highways ministry (yes, we have one on paper) said that 4,726 lives were lost in crashes due to ‘humps', and 6,672 in accidents due to potholes and speed breakers. These were official figures. Other reports published at the same time pointed out that the figure could be a lot higher because of data being improperly captured by local police.

These people who lost their lives were obviously the ones at fault for not avoiding those potholes, speed breakers and assorted debris. Their mistake was putting their trust in their government's efficiency and conscience.

The BMC can't be blamed, simply because they don't know who is responsible. The same bunch of people from the same political parties have been supposedly trying to fix our roads for over three decades now, but how can three decades be enough for that poor organisation to figure out where the problem is or who the people in charge of solving it are? Earlier this week, it informed the Bombay high court that it would soon be making phone numbers of all road engineers from 24 wards public, so pothole-related complaints could be addressed to them directly. The court was also told that the road engineers were responsible for repairing potholes in every ward. In other words, the corporators and senior engineers were being blamed for no fault of their own.

A couple of years ago, a former Director General, Roads (yes, that post supposedly exists too) told the press that speed breakers on internal roads were "hugely dangerous" because none followed design, curvature and location. He added that they were more dangerous for two-wheeler riders and passengers in three-wheelers; in other words, just a few million of us.

No one can be blamed. In September last year, the Thane police booked a woman for rash driving and causing death by negligence after her mother, who was riding pillion with her on a scooter, fell and died during treatment. The woman had failed to manoeuvre around potholes and, naturally, had tried to file a case against the contractor responsible for the road after her mother's death. Also naturally, the police chose to file an accidental death case, because they obviously couldn't figure out whom to hold responsible.

A senior police inspector told the press that charges were being slapped on the deceased woman's daughter because driving a vehicle carefully is the responsibility of the driver. She was driving negligently, he added, so her mother died. Our lives in Bombay often resemble scenes from absurdist theatre.

We shouldn't blame the BMC or the PWD or the MMRDA or whatever new committee or body is formed over the next couple of years to closely examine the state of Bombay's roads. If our roads kill us, we have only ourselves to blame for being foolhardy enough to actually use them.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira

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