A 30‑something Amazon employee, Ankush Mitra, has reportedly died in a pothole‑related crash in Bengaluru’s Whitefield area, adding a deeply personal face to the city’s long‑running road‑safety crisis. According to a note shared by local residents’ groups, Ankush—an IIT Delhi and IIM Kozhikode alumnus was riding pillion on a bike around 1.30 am last Sunday on Channasandra Main Road near Zudio / SBR One when the vehicle hit a pothole, throwing him off and into a concrete structure, where he died on the spot; the rider survived. His mother, who lived with him in SS Samruddhi Apartments and had already lost her husband last year, has now lost her only son because a basic road repair was not done.
Resident groups and civic activists are using this case to highlight how Bengaluru’s cratered roads have become a lethal public‑safety issue rather than a mere inconvenience. The pattern is tragically familiar: late‑night or early‑morning rides on poorly lit stretches, deep or water‑filled potholes, sudden loss of balance, and fatal impact with dividers or roadside structures. Each time, accountability bounces between BBMP, traffic police and contractors, while families are left to deal with irreversible loss. For tech workers and gig workers who rely on two‑wheelers daily, it reinforces a grim reality—that in India’s startup capital, even a routine ride home can turn into a life‑and‑death gamble when basic civic maintenance fails.
Supreme Court should just ask for number of pothole deaths in Bengaluru to begin with and will see the pattern themselves over the last 5 years. https://t.co/FRPjeGZNPy
— Udit Kulshrestha (@uditkulshrestha) December 7, 2025
Recent pothole deaths and serious cases
- Ankush Mitra (2025): The Amazon employee’s death in Whitefield after his bike hit a pothole and he was flung into a concrete structure is only the latest in a series of such crashes.
- Multiple deaths 2017–2022: A detailed investigation by The News Minute revisited 13 pothole‑caused deaths in Bengaluru between 2017 and 2022 and found that:
- Not a single family had been compensated under BBMP’s announced scheme.
- No BBMP engineer or contractor had been held criminally liable.
- In most FIRs, police booked drivers or victims for “death due to negligence” instead of naming civic agencies.
Cases cited include a woman named Sharmila, who died in 2017 after falling off a scooter on Magadi Road; the pothole was filled overnight after her death, but officials blamed other agencies instead of accepting fault.
- Civic negligence deaths: NCRB data compiled in 2025 show that Bengaluru recorded 20 deaths attributed to “civic negligence” in 2023, the highest among major cities for the fourth year in a row—with 21 such deaths in 2022, 31 in 2021 and 49 in 2019. Many of these are linked to bad roads, open drains and unbarricaded works.
These numbers back citizen groups’ claim that Ankush’s case is part of a systemic failure, not an isolated accident.
Government promises and deadlines to fix potholes
The current Karnataka government has made multiple high‑profile pledges in 2024–25:
- September 2025 – “Pothole‑free by October 31”:
- Chief Minister Siddaramaiah convened a review meeting after criticism from IT leaders and public protests, and set 31 October 2025 as the deadline to make Bengaluru pothole‑free under the new Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).
- Officials reported 14,795 potholes across five city corporations; 6,749 had been filled and 8,046 were pending at the time.
- Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar announced ₹750 crore of additional funds for roads, and said a ₹2.5‑crore Jetpatcher technology tender was being floated so potholes could be repaired even during rain.
- October 2025 – deadline missed:
- As the deadline expired, news channels reported that the city was still far from pothole‑free; the CM admitted the target would be missed due to ongoing Metro, BWSSB and utility works.
- Shivakumar later said around 7,000 potholes had been fixed but 5,000+ remained, giving contractors a fresh 15‑day / November deadline to complete repairs.
- Spending vs outcome:
- Deccan Herald reported that BBMP spent ₹12.25 crore in 2024–25 on pothole repairs, up from ₹7 crore the year before, yet the number of reported potholes rose 63% year‑on‑year.
- BBMP data show 1.78 lakh sq. m of potholes “repaired” in 2024‑25, but commuters continue to complain that patches fail quickly or are shoddy.
The state has also announced schemes to pay ₹3 lakh for deaths and ₹15,000 for minor injuries due to potholes, but investigative work indicates implementation is patchy and few families have actually received compensation.
Why this keeps happening despite announcements
Investigations and activist testimony point to a few recurring issues:
- Poor accountability: FIRs and official reports often blame victims or drivers instead of booking civic engineers or contractors for negligence, making systemic change unlikely.
- Coordination gaps: The CM himself has said there is “no coordination” between BBMP/GBA and agencies like BMRCL, BWSSB, BDA and Bescom; freshly tarred roads are dug up again for pipes or cables, creating new craters.
- Sub‑standard repairs: Activists allege BBMP uses construction and demolition waste instead of proper aggregate in pothole fills, causing them to break down quickly; BBMP denies this but admits heavy traffic and repeated digging mean frequent recurrence.
So while the government keeps announcing deadlines, funds and new technologies, the combination of weak enforcement, fragmented responsibility and poor‑quality work means potholes reappear—and people like Ankush Mitra continue to pay with their lives.
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