MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday directed civic bodies across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to place on record detailed data on potholes and manholes within their jurisdiction.Irked with inaction, HC seeks data on potholes, manholes from civic bodies in MMRExpressing concern over the poor condition of roads across the MMR despite authorities claiming that the issue had been resolved, a division bench of justice AS Gadkari and justice Kamal Khata said, “This is a very crucial issue and if such things are happening at the hands of the authorities, it’s very misleading.”The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by advocate Ruju Thakker in 2019, alleging systemic failures across civic bodies, state agencies, and contractors responsible for road upkeep in the MMR.The contempt plea was filed in connection with a 2013 suo motu proceeding, which was initiated after five deaths were reported over two months within the limits of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) due to bad roads; and GS Patel, then a high court judge, wrote a letter highlighting the “pathetic condition” of roads in and around Mumbai.On Monday, the division bench noted that despite “repeated judicial interventions since 2015”, the same issues reappeared every monsoon, which pointed towards lack of sustained compliance and negligence on the part of public authorities.Thakker cited a spate of recent road accidents, including an accident near the University of Mumbai on February 17 in which one person died and other incidents in Thane and Bhiwandi in December 2025. She informed the court that though it had issued directions last year for installation of protection grills over manholes and potholes, no action has been taken by the authorities yet.The BMC submitted that compensation claims for accidental deaths were being reviewed by a committee headed by the municipal commissioner, whereas the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) contended that such accidents could not always be attributed to potholes and were sometimes caused by rash driving or negligence on the part of drivers.The court, however, asked the civic bodies what concrete steps had been taken in furtherance of earlier court orders and why had the orders not been implemented yet.“People have come on the streets now to protest. Don’t push the people to do that,” the court said, and directed civic bodies within the MMR to file their affidavits by June 22.