This year, the monsoon has been quite strong in many parts of the country. Heavy rainfall has caused major waterlogging in many states. Adding to this is the fact that India currently has a lot of infrastructural development projects ( road and highway works) going on. Waterlogging in areas with ongoing roadworks poses a higher risk to vehicles, as demonstrated by a recent video from Bihar’s Patna. It shows a Mahindra Scorpio that sank into a deep, water-filled roadside ditch. The female owner of this SUV even said that the ditch here could be a ‘conspiracy against the government’...
This unfortunate incident happened in the heart of Patna, near the Patna junction, on Friday (September 19) evening. A Black Scorpio-N SUV with five people onboard plunged into a deep, waterlogged pothole near the new market area. It overturned sideways and landed on its left side. In the videos, we can see it half-submerged. Its wheels and underbody are seen soaked in mud.
The occupants were soon rescued. The incident caused chaos on the surrounding roads for some time. People soon gathered around, and someone from the crowd even filmed the scene.
Police from the nearby Kotwali station soon showed up at the location. The SUV was then recovered with the help of a crane. The ditch that caused this accident seems to have been made by excavation work for drainage and road widening.
The videos soon racked up views online. ANI later shared a video byte of Nitu Singh Choubey, the owner of this SUV. In it, she blames the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (BUIDCO) for the poor condition of the road here. This body is responsible for the place’s major infrastructural projects. She also added that not fixing the crater could be a conspiracy to defame the government during the election.
The SUV owner also mentions that BUIDCO created the pothole and left it open for over 20 days. As the rain arrived, these ditches were filled with water. No barricades or warning boards were placed nearby to warn people and traffic around. After Scorpio plunged into it, a bike rider reportedly fell into the same ditch. Locals say that people and vehicles falling into this pothole is a common sight here.
The Scorpio-N is known for its strong build quality and crashworthiness. Despite overturning and landing on its side in the pothole, the SUV’s cabin and pillars seem to remain intact. According to reports, all occupants remained unhurt.
Road widening projects often demand major excavation nearby to build new patches and drainage systems. Poorly built drainage can be problematic in the long run. Thus, town planning bodies take special care in getting these right. Digging such deep pits needs to be done carefully, especially when the roads nearby are still in use.
Companies undertaking such construction are required to put proper warning signs, barricades, and create safe diversions to keep people and traffic away from the dangers of these. In many places, contractors and companies fail to do this. This often causes crashes such as the one in this case. Waterlogging has made things more difficult for road users.
In a previous case, we saw how not having the right warning signs led to a Maruti WagonR falling off an unfinished bridge in Uttar Pradesh, killing its occupants. The bridge wasn’t closed, nor did it have warning signs.