KOCHI: The Kerala High Court rapped the state government for its failure to repair potholes in the city which led to the death of a youth at Palarivattom yesterday. The government repeatedly says that the potholes will be filled but nothing is done. Officers roaming in cars will not understand the difficulties of a common man, the court said.

Justice Devan Ramachandran said a youth lost his life at a young age. I bow my head in shame. He was the breadwinner of the family. I tender an apology to the parents of the youth who died for the society. Though the court has repeatedly ordered to repair the roads, nothing is being done. Officers roaming in cars will not understand the difficulties of an ordinary man. The court has lost confidence on the officials. The court also demanded the officials to apologize to the relatives of the youth.

Meantime, public works department has suspended four engineers in connection with the incident. The suspension is for dereliction of duty. The four suspended are assistant executive engineer Susan Thomas, Ernakulam section assistant engineer K N Surjith, assistant executive engineer E Sainaba and assistant engineer P K Deepa.