PUNE: While the opposition blamed state government’s inaction for the pothole-ridden roads that claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy in Pune’s Mahalunge area on Monday, the local MLA from NCP, Shankar Mandekar, made a controversial statement in which he said that since there are roads, accidents happen.Mandekar visited the accident spot on Monday afternoon where, during the media interaction, he made the controversial remarks.“It was an unfortunate incident but when there are roads, accidents do happen. In the end, the case is registered against the owner of the bigger vehicle involved in the accident,” the Bhor MLA said.Local residents expressed anger over the poor road conditions and said that despite repeated complaints, the road was not repaired by the authorities.When Mandekar was asked about the delay in improving the road condition, he said, “I have been raising the issue in the assembly but beyond that what can I do? Even though I am a member of the party which is in the govt, the decision is taken by the concerned ministers.”The opposition parties have slammed the state government over the poor road conditions that claimed the life of the boy on Monday.NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said, “The chief minister chaired a meeting on July 10, 2025, to address the issues of Rajiv Gandhi Infotech park, Hinjewadi and Maan-Mahalunge. In that meeting, it was decided that single point authority will resolve all the issues. However, it has been more than a year; no progress has been made after that meeting. Now when an 11-year-old boy died in front of his father’s eyes, who should be held responsible for it?”Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who visited the area on Tuesday, said, “The local residents had held a protest at the same location demanding administration to repair the roads but the administration did not respond. Now after the death of the boy, govt will give compensation of Rs 4-5 lakh to the family but that does not solve the issue.”
