New Delhi, Oct. 18 -- Residents of several villages in Maharashtra on Friday staged a protest, expressing anguish over the administration's apathy and the deteriorating condition of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway (NH-48), which is riddled with potholes and causes severe traffic snarls. More than 100 of them wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting a nod to die by suicide as their "ordeal is insufferable".

Residents of Sasunavghar, Maljipada, Sasupada, Bobat Pada, and Patharpada stated that a journey which used to take just an hour, over the last two months, reportedly turned into a five- to six-hour nightmare.

Sushant Patil, an activist from a local NGO leading the protests told Hindustan Times, "Dying would be better th...