‘Potography’ war against bad roads in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD:A few months ago, 12-year old Ravi Teja of Habsiguda area in Hyderabad hit the headlines with his efforts to fill up potholes on the city roads to prevent accidents.
People thought it would be an eye-opener for the authorities. However, that wasn’t to be as Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) turned a blind eye.
In an attempt to wake up the civic authorities from their slumber, Hyderabadbased Congress leader Marri Adithya Reddy has come out with a unique photo contest — inviting citizens to take photographs of the “best” potholes in the city and mail it to him. The first “best” pothole picture will get a cash award of ~5,000 and the second ~2,500.
“Potography”, as the contest is named, began on August 31 and will end on September 10. The citizens have been asked to mail photos to hydpothole@gmail.com .
“The response has been tremendous. In 48 hours, we received close to 70 pictures of potholes across the city under GHMC limits. We have launched the campaign only to sensitise the authorities,” Adithya told Hindustan Times.
Adithya is the grandson of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Marri Channa Reddy and son of Marri Shashishar Reddy, former vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority.
At present, Adithya holds the post of secretary of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. “I have not taken up this programme on behalf of the party as I didn’t want to give it a political colour. This is my idea and I wanted to highlight the plight of citizens facing problems due to potholes on roads,” he said.
The young politician stumbled upon the idea after one of his assistants fell into a pothole and injured himself critically. “He is recovering, but how long should the people suffer?” he asked.
After the contest ends, Adithya plans to send the photographs to all the zonal commissioners of the GHMC and corporators across the city.
And, he does not want to stop with just potholes. “I will take up similar campaign against garbage dumping and traffic issues,” Aditya added.