The Bombay High Court has issued notices to the Maharashtra Government, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), Public Works Department (PWD), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the traffic police. The petition filed in the court has mentioned that more than 18 deaths have occurred due to potholes in Thane.
Application filed based on media report
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dare and Sandish Patil issued this notice while hearing an application filed based on a news report in the Free Press Journal. The report mentioned the poor condition of Thane's roads and the recent 11-hour traffic jam on Ghodbunder Road.
TMC's previous claims: "No deaths due to potholes"
Adv. Ruju Thakkar has filed this petition. The contempt petition is being heard due to non-compliance of the court's earlier orders on the same issue. In last week's hearing, TMC had told the court that there were no deaths due to potholes in Thane.
18 deaths in January–October 2025
Thakkar presented FPJ’s report “Thane’s Ghodbunder Road Crisis: Craters, Chaos And Zero Coordination Keep Commuters Trapped” dated November 23. It states that potholes are re-occurring within a week of being repaired due to low-quality materials. The report also states that, “18 people died due to potholes between January and October 2025.”
Court observation: Works are unregulated; an invitation to accidents
Thakkar said, “The FPJ article mentions 18 deaths in Thane itself. Citizens have also protested this many times.”
After reviewing the article and photographs, the court said that road repairs were being carried out without any barricades. “This is literally an accident waiting to happen. It may not be fatal, but there will definitely be damage to vehicles and injuries to civilians.”
Justice Dare's personal experience
Recalling the poor condition of the roads while going to the Maharashtra Judicial Academy in Uttan (Bhayander), Justice Dare said: “Even reaching Uttan was difficult… almost impossible…”
Ghodbunder Road condition 'terrible'
High Court bench said: "The condition of Ghodbunder Road is very bad. This road is important for all commercial vehicles going to Thane-Gujarat. The government should pay immediate attention to this.” The court also called the 11-hour traffic jam “horrific.”
Thakkar's application, seeking compensation for the victims' families, has sought to submit information about these 18 deaths before the court. It has also demanded that all relevant agencies be jointly or separately responsible for providing compensation to the affected families.
The petition also demands an investigation into why potholes reappear within a month even after repair, and strict disciplinary and punitive action against the guilty contractors and officials.
Court’s Warning: No Dispute Over Compensation
On November 24, the High Court expressed displeasure over government and local authorities shifting responsibility regarding compensation for deaths. The court warned that “if responsibility is not clearly fixed, we will order all concerned authorities to share the compensation equally.”
KDMC to pay INR 6 lakh compensation
Adv. A. S. Rao told the court that a newly constituted government committee has decided to pay INR 6 lakh compensation to the father of 13-year-old Ayush Kadam in the death case.
Ayush fell into an open drain on September 28. There was also a dispute over jurisdiction between KDMC and MMRDA in this case. Rao told the court that an investigation is underway against the officials concerned and further steps will be taken to recover the amount from them.
Court orders: Compensation process should be expedited
The court asked for the inquiry report to be submitted on January 22 and noted: “At least a beginning has been made. "One family has received compensation. It is expected that this process will be expedited in other cases as well." The court directed all the municipal corporations to complete the works at the earliest. “Now there is no need to wait for the next rain. This is enough warning for all the municipal corporations,” the bench said. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for December 15, specifically for progress on compensation for other deaths.
Ghodbunder Road: Many systems, zero coordination
The nearly 20 km long Ghodbunder Road falls under the jurisdiction of TMC, PWD and MMRDA. However, due to lack of coordination between departments, development works continue simultaneously, causing huge traffic jams.
On September 18, a 16-month-old child died while being taken to the hospital from Nalasopara. Because the ambulance was stuck in a 6-hour traffic jam due to repairs on Ghodbunder Road. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway leading to Thane was closed from 6 am to 9 pm that day.
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