A pothole has led to a freak accident and left a woman with a crushed ankle, an emergency surgery, and a hefty hospital bill in IT hub Bengaluru. Aishani Khanna, who works in the private sector, was riding to her office when her scooter hit a pothole and left her with serious injuries last month. The hospital bill was nearly Rs 2 lakh.
This could happen to ANY of us tomorrow. Khanna shared her ordeal on X and appealed to the authorities to fix the roads. Fix the roads now,” her post read. She had taken the Varthur route since she had to run an errand on her way to the office. “It was about noon and raining pretty hard. I was on my two-wheeler and didn’t see a pothole. I was up in the air for two or three seconds. I fell, and the scooter fell on me. The accident landed her in the hospital, where she would spend the next five days. But that isn’t over yet. She may have to undergo a second surgery depending on how she heals. Besides hospital expenses, trauma adds to Khanna’s troubles. “It’s not just the physical trauma that I went through. Civic infrastructure in Bengaluru has often courted criticism, with authorities facing residents’ anger over pothole-ridden roads and inefficient traffic management. Known as the Silicon Valley of India, the city’s poor and broken roads have emerged as a huge embarrassment for the authorities over the years. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has on several occasions assured the residents that potholes were being filled.
Because it was very uncalled for,” she says, it was a lot of mental trauma and financial burden. “(A) hidden pothole on Varthur Road cost me a crushed ankle, emergency plastic surgery, 5 days in hospital, and Rs 1.97L. As she now recovers, she shares with NDTV what unfolded on August 20. At the end came a hefty medical bill of Rs 1.97 lakh. Pointing out that she had been living in Bengaluru for 30 years, she says she has seen the situation turn from bad to worse.
Read: “Is Road-Making Rocket Science?”: Bengaluru Development Minister On Potholes Khanna was on her scooter when the accident occurred on the Whitefield-Varthur road near Nexus Mall. She says she was well aware of the condition of the road and riding cautiously until one pothole slipped out of her sight. I suffered seven or eight deep cuts or abrasions on my left ankle, which only plastic surgeons would look into,” she says. Read: Bengaluru Man Almost Run Over By Tanker After Bike Hits Pothole Khanna describes the breakdown in civic infrastructure as a “sad state of affairs”. “There is absolutely no road, just potholes,” says a dejected Khanna, appealing to the government to ensure better roads.
