Marredpally residents say their complaints about bad roads went unheard. So, they did this
It's a problem many of us are used to dealing with: bad roads filled gaping potholes. Day after day, we suffer nightmare-ish commutes while waiting for local government authorities to do something. But Telangana residents took matters into their own hands on Sunday, staging a unique protest by repairing part of a pothole-ridden road themselves.
Fed up residents of Secunderabad's Marredpally say they spent about Rs 4,000 to fill potholes on Sangeeth Crossroads. They even renamed the 200-metre stretch near St Johns Junior College "KTR-Ivanka Trump Road," after Telangana municipal administration minister KT Rama Rao and US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump.
Ms Trump was in Hyderabad last year to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Municipal workers gave roads on the route Ms Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were expected to travel on a facelift - filling up potholes and covering up open manholes. It even led to a viral Twitter campaign with many Hyderabad residents asking Ms Trump to visit their neighbourhoods so their roads would be fixed as well.
M Krishnak, a Marredpally resident and activist, posted pictures and a video of Sunday's protest on Facebook.
"Last year when only few roads were beautified we requested Ivanka Trump to visit Marredpally Roads so that Government would repair our Roads. Neither Ivanka Trump came nor the Government repaired our Road. So we got onto the streets, pulled our sleeves up and attempted to repair it, (sic)" he wrote.
As some filled the pothole, others held up placards which read: "Neither is Ivanka Trump coming nor is the government repairing our roads. Why can't we do it on our own?"
"We spent Rs 4,000 on concrete mix, granite stones, and water. We contributed the amount from our own pockets," Mr Krishnak told
Times of India.
Another resident posted more pictures of the repair efforts and posted them on the Facebook group "
Marredpally Days."
"Thank you, for rising up to the occasion," he wrote.
"This is really appreciated. I take that road almost every day and that pothole is treacherous for two wheelers and smaller cars," commented one person. "Really appreciated work. Please inform in advance through Facebook, I will join in the work," wrote another.
"Proud of the residents who took the initiative. Looks like this is the only way we can set right things in the colony," commented a third.Click for more
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