Mercedes owner seeks Rs 5 lakh from UP municipality after car breaks down in flooded road

Meanwhile, the municipal commissioner said, 'If the waterlogging caused his vehicle to break down, why didn’t the same happen to other vehicles parked on the same street?' (Representational image: Copilot)

The owner of a Mercedes car in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad has sent a legal notice to the local municipal commissioner seeking Rs 5 lakh in compensation after his car broke down on a waterlogged road during heavy rain on July 23, Times of India reported.

Amit Kishore, a social activist and resident of Sector 11, said his vehicle—purchased for Rs 60 lakh in 2018—was stranded in knee-deep water in Lajpat Nagar for nearly two hours before it stopped functioning. “It just wouldn’t start again. I had to arrange a crane to tow it to a service centre in Noida, which has now estimated the repair cost at Rs 5 lakh,” Kishore told the publication.

The legal notice, served through his lawyer, accuses the municipal corporation of failing to perform its statutory duties under the Municipal Corporation Act and environmental laws. “Your breach of duty of care makes you liable for financial, physical, and mental damages caused to my client and others similarly affected,” it read. The notice gives the civic body 15 days to respond before legal proceedings are initiated.

Speaking to the Times of India, municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik dismissed the claim, saying the burden of proof lies with the complainant. “If the waterlogging caused his vehicle to break down, why didn’t the same happen to other vehicles parked on the same street?” he said, citing excessive rainfall and IMD alerts issued that day.

Local residents, however, have backed Kishore’s claims. “Waterlogging is a chronic issue in trans-Hindon areas like Indirapuram, Vaishali, and Vasundhara,” said Roy Tapan Bharti, a long-time resident of Sector 16. “Drains are clogged, and cleaning is either delayed or ineffective. Sludge is left on the roadside until rains wash it back in.”

Kishore has previously filed petitions in the National Green Tribunal demanding regular drain cleaning and removal of encroachments in Vasundhara.