Tragic Death in Bengaluru: 22-Year-Old Student Killed While Avoiding Pothole on City's Neglected Roads

The body of the student has been transferred to a private hospital.

Bengaluru:

A tragic incident occurred in North Bengaluru's Avalahalli area on Monday when a 22-year-old student lost her life after being run over by a tipper truck while attempting to navigate around a pothole.

Dhanushree, a second-year B.Com student, was riding her two-wheeler to college when she suddenly swerved to avoid a pothole near Budigere Cross. She lost balance and fell onto the road, where an oncoming tipper lorry ran over her, causing immediate death. According to IANS reports, the impact was so severe that her head was crushed under the vehicle's wheels.

Avalahalli police have registered a hit-and-run case and are currently searching for the lorry driver, who fled the scene without stopping. The KR Puram Traffic Police, which has jurisdiction over the Budigere road area, is also conducting an investigation.

This fatality happens against the backdrop of a recent 30-day deadline set by officials to repair all potholes across Bengaluru's roads.

On August 27, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that officials were given 30 days to make all city roads motorable by filling potholes.

During his "city rounds" inspection of road conditions and ongoing pothole repairs, the Chief Minister stated, "I have given instructions to fill potholes and to maintain quality in the work. I have suspended an assistant executive engineer as he had left a pothole just by filling gravel without putting tar or wet mix.

Contractors have to maintain the roads for which white topping is being done. White topping is being done for Hennur road, for which Rs 13 crore per km is being spent; it is a 5 km road project."

The Chief Minister warned that Commissioners and Chief Engineers of the five city corporations would be held accountable for any lapses.

Public outrage over Bengaluru's road conditions intensified after online trucking platform BlackBuck decided to relocate from its Bellandur location on Bengaluru's Outer Ring Road, citing commuting difficulties and inadequate road infrastructure.

Several prominent figures, including former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai and Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, have recently urged immediate government intervention.

Addressing the pothole issue, the Chief Minister had said, "I don't want to blame the BJP, but they did not fill the potholes while in power; if they had done it, such a situation wouldn't have arisen. They didn't even release any funds for the maintenance of roads...leave it, we are in power now, we will ensure that the potholes are filled."

The Budigere Cross road, a major airport access route used by thousands of residents from Whitefield, KR Puram, and Hoskote areas, has been widely criticized for its deteriorated condition. While it offers one of the most time-efficient routes to Kempegowda International Airport, its current state—with soil-filled potholes and scattered jelly stones—poses significant dangers, particularly for two-wheeler riders.

(With inputs from IANS)