Hyderabad: An elderly couple in the capital city of Telangana has been filling potholes with their pension money for the past 11 years. He decided to take matters into his own hands when he noticed that his complaints with the authorities concerned did not yield any results.
According to the couple, they have filled more than 2,000 potholes across the city.
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At the age of 73, Gangadhar Tilak Katnam from Hyderabad is known as “Road Doctor”. He, accompanied by his wife, 64-year-old Venkateshwari Katnam, took to the streets in a car they named their “pothole ambulance” and filled potholes wherever they found them.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Gangadhar Tilak Katnam said, “After seeing many accidents on the roads due to potholes I decided to do something about this issue and find a solution.”
“Initially, I tried to complain about the issue to the police and municipality officials, but to no avail. That’s when I decided to fill these pits myself,” he said.
Tilak earlier worked as an employee in the Indian Railways for about 35 years. He came to Hyderabad after retirement to work as a software design engineer in a software company.
Former railway workers have been filling potholes across the city since then. In his attempt to address the issue, he even quit his job as a software design engineer within a year to devote himself entirely to filling the potholes in the city.
When asked about the finances, Gangadhar said, “I am managing the finances of this initiative from the pension I get. All the material required for the work is bought using money from my pension. For the last 11 years , I was able to fill around 2,030 potholes in the city and across the city and spent around Rs 40 lakh on it.”
Their work has been noticed by government officials, who have stepped forward to help them by providing them with the necessary materials.
Gangadhar reveals that he runs an organization called ‘Shramdhan’ with the aim of expanding his work. “I will never ask for money/donations from anyone. People will voluntarily step in to help fill the potholes,” he said.
The “Road Doctor” believes that a growing population is a burden unless everyone comes forward to help: “Many problems can be solved very easily if everyone starts helping each other.” give”
“Road by road, we make a difference,” he concluded.
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