Mumbai roads: MNS members take hostage of 2 civic employees

, July 24: The civic authorities here have drawn ire after three persons were killed in accidents caused by the potholes in the last one month. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) even held two Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) employees hostage to protest against the rising number of accidents because of the potholes.

The party has threatened not to set the duo free till all pothole-filled roads in Dadar in suburban Mumbai are repaired. The MNS has also sought blacklisting of contractors to fail to deliver on standards.

Various agencies are being held responsible for the mess that the roads in the country's financial capital are in. While the BMC is in charge of the arterial roads, the Maharashtra Road Development Corporation looks after most of the flyovers. The Public Works Department looks after the highways.

This month, a 48-year-old woman died because of head injuries after she fell from a two-wheeler while trying to avoid a pothole in Vasai. Earlier, a 28-year-old engineer was killed despite wearing the helmet after his two-wheeler fell into a pothole on the Western Express Highway.

Meanwhile, US Vice President Joe Biden arrived here on a two-day visit on Tuesday night.

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