Mangaluru: Eager to draw attention of those in the highest echelons of the country to the poor condition of the coastal city’s roads, Mangaluru-based entrepreneur Likhith Rai has launched ‘Pothole Se Azadi’. Given that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Mangaluru in a little more than a week’s time, Rai’s campaign is clearly aimed at highlighting the apathetic attitude of the civic authorities and local elected representatives for the premier’s benefit.
Rai has appealed to citizens to send him photographs of potholes before they are hastily covered by the authorities ahead of the PM’s visit. “What the authorities will do will amount to nothing more than patchwork, which is bound to wear off in under 10 days. They will undertake this work only in view of Modi’s pending visit to Mangaluru. The authorities failed to fix roads despite many accidents being reported. This time, we will be vigilant. We will closely monitor the work that will be undertaken on the city’s roads. We must do this lest the authorities fool us again. It does appear as if the PM’s visit is of greater importance to the authorities than the loss of innocent lives,” Rai told TOI.
It is with a grief-laden heart that Rai has launched this campaign. His friend Athish Y died while travelling by his two-wheeler on the road from Nanthoor Junction to Bikarnakatte on August 5. This loss pushed Rai to take the lead in the campaign aimed at preventing such tragedies.
The entrepreneur admitted to feeling exasperated with being repeatedly fobbed off by the authorities with the excuse of potholes being fixed at the end of the rainy season. “But when the rain stops, they claim that they are facing a shortage of tar. The poor condition of the roads is directly responsible for at least five to ten accidents, every day. We have enough technical knowhow to understand that, if work is undertaken properly, the roads will last longer,” said Rai, adding that citizens of Mangaluru had started mailing photographs of pothole-riddled roads. He said that the fight to get the roads fixed would continue till the authorities took concrete action.
Meanwhile, on social media, citizens are appealing to PM Modi to travel from Bengaluru to Mangaluru by road, so he can see the pathetic condition of the Shiradi Ghat Road for himself.
Rai has appealed to citizens to send him photographs of potholes before they are hastily covered by the authorities ahead of the PM’s visit. “What the authorities will do will amount to nothing more than patchwork, which is bound to wear off in under 10 days. They will undertake this work only in view of Modi’s pending visit to Mangaluru. The authorities failed to fix roads despite many accidents being reported. This time, we will be vigilant. We will closely monitor the work that will be undertaken on the city’s roads. We must do this lest the authorities fool us again. It does appear as if the PM’s visit is of greater importance to the authorities than the loss of innocent lives,” Rai told TOI.
It is with a grief-laden heart that Rai has launched this campaign. His friend Athish Y died while travelling by his two-wheeler on the road from Nanthoor Junction to Bikarnakatte on August 5. This loss pushed Rai to take the lead in the campaign aimed at preventing such tragedies.
The entrepreneur admitted to feeling exasperated with being repeatedly fobbed off by the authorities with the excuse of potholes being fixed at the end of the rainy season. “But when the rain stops, they claim that they are facing a shortage of tar. The poor condition of the roads is directly responsible for at least five to ten accidents, every day. We have enough technical knowhow to understand that, if work is undertaken properly, the roads will last longer,” said Rai, adding that citizens of Mangaluru had started mailing photographs of pothole-riddled roads. He said that the fight to get the roads fixed would continue till the authorities took concrete action.
Meanwhile, on social media, citizens are appealing to PM Modi to travel from Bengaluru to Mangaluru by road, so he can see the pathetic condition of the Shiradi Ghat Road for himself.