Locals plant saplings in potholes as complaints fall on deaf ears in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Tired of civic apathy, a group of residents planted saplings in a few potholes at Peerzadiguda in Hyderabad, hoping their unique protest will wake up municipal officials from their slumber.

Locals said the road from Peerzadiguda Kaman to Boddupal has six huge potholes and that their repeated complaints over the past four months have fallen on deaf ears. Prashanth, who uses the stretch daily, said only a different method of protest will perhaps push the officials to solve their problem.

The road has three schools that collectively have nearly 3,000 students, said Prasanth. “I fear for the children who travel on this road daily. So I thought if I place a few saplings in the middle of the road, where there are potholes, it will grab people’s attention.”

The citizens however did not plant real saplings, they were fallen branches of trees, which they pruned, so that they can be removed when the pothole filling will take place.

If the municipal corporation doesn't take action in a month, said Prasanth, the residents of the area will fill the craters themselves.

Another protester, Venkata Chary, told NewsMeter: “We fear that such potholes will lead to accidents and children using this road might get hurt. We have been complaining for four months now. It is very difficult to drive on this road and we need a solution to this. Hence we agreed to this idea.”

Potholes have also been a huge problem in other parts of the country, prompting citizens to raise their voices through demonstrations as well as creativity.

Earlier, a man dressed as an astronaut and walked on a potholed road at Malleshwaram in Bangalore to highlight the plight of the public. The video of his 'moonwalk' set the social media afire, triggering a wave of memes.