Bengaluru woman tries to avoid pothole, dies after running into truck

Bengaluru: A day after Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah gave a 15-day deadline to fill all the potholes in Bengaluru and declared that his government will not hesitate to initiate disciplinary action against engineers and contractors who fail to meet the deadline, another woman died on Tuesday after she was flung from a scooter and crushed by a truck near Devanahalli.

Four people have died in accidents in October because of the battered condition of some of the city's roads.

G Veena, 21, a resident of Kundana in Devanahalli, was returning home riding pillion with her elder sister G Lakshmi, 24.

At the Shettarahalli gate, while trying to negotiate a pothole, Lakshmi slowed down the two-wheeler when a truck hit them from behind, police said.

As the women fell off their vehicle, the truck ran over Veena, killing her instantaneously. Lakshmi too sustained serious injuries. She has been admitted to a nearby hospital, the police said.

The bike in which G Veena and her sister were returning home. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Angry residents blocked the road protesting the pathetic condition of the road.

Police have registered a case against the truck driver who fled the spot leaving his vehicle.

On Wednesday BJP workers carried out a protest with symbolic body outside Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office against recent deaths due to potholes in Bengaluru.

On Sunday, a 52-year-old woman Radha was run over by a lorry after she fell off the scooter when the rider lost control while negotiating a pothole. The incident was reported near Nayandahalli Junction on Mysuru Road.

On October 3, a couple, Anthony Joseph (55) and his wife Sagai Mary (52) died on the spot after a Tamil Nadu government bus ran over them when they fell off the bike while avoiding a pothole on Sirsi Flyover on Mysuru Road near Nalanda theatre.

The government has come under sharp criticism for the condition of the roads in the city.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during a high level meeting with state officials on Monday had blamed torrential rains for the potholes in the city and has promised to rid the city of potholes in a fortnight.

The CM on Monday had decided to release Rs 700 crore to fill potholes as well as develop good roads in the city.

Siddaramaiah said the condition of roads in the city has deteriorated as Bengaluru received heavy rains for the last 42 days.

“The agencies too expressed their inability to take up pothole-filling drive because of the rain, but I have given them a strict deadline. There are 1,500 main roads across the city where potholes have come up in the last 42 days," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)