Potholes claimed 565 lives between ’14 & ’22

Visakhapatnam: Potholes on roads have claimed at least 565 lives, causing injuries to 1,522 motorists in Andhra Pradesh between 2014 and 2022. Bad road conditions have become a major issue in the state. Residents of many districts have complained about the poor condition of the road stretches, alleging the authorities have turned blind eye to the issue.The data released by the road transport and highways ministry (accidents classified according to road features) showed that on average at least 63 people died due to potholes on roads in AP every year. It said that 565 people were killed due to potholes on the roads in 1,515 road crashes in the state over the past nine years. Maximum fatalities (131) due to potholes were reported in the state in 2016, followed by 108 deaths each in 2017 and 2021, and 103 deaths in 2015.

“A majority of the roads in the state (except National Highways) are mostly prone to potholes,” said K Samba Murthy, an activist. The officials might have buried the facts as there were no deaths due to potholes in the state in 2020 and 2022, he pointed out.Though the roads in parts of north coastal AP have been uneven and broken for a long time, the recent heavy rains further deteriorated their condition. More potholes have resurfaced on different roads across the state. AP has over 45,000 km of road network (rural, district and state highways). As per the estimates, over 20,000 km of road network was damaged due to poor maintenance between 2019 and 2024. The bad road and potholes have been leading to road crashes in the state and claiming lives of several motorists. It was mentioned that in a year, at least 8,000 persons die and over 20,000 people suffer injuries in road accidents in AP. The state has been below 10th rank in the list of states reporting road accidents and deaths in the country.“Due to the length of the roads along with the heavy traffic on them, pothole formation is more frequent on some stretches. However, officials of various departments failed to fix the potholes on a high priority basis. This resulted in the road crashes and deaths,” said Ch Prasad and G Jagannadham, who have been fighting to fix potholes and repair damaged roads in Manyam district.GC Raja Ratnam, Vizag deputy transport commissioner (DTC), said, “Road accidents are mostly reported on straight roads, national highways, and open areas, where the condition of the road is good. “