DAVANGERE: An initiative by volunteers of Davangere who have started filling the potholes in the city themselves with their own funds received huge accolades not only from the residents of the city but also from various parts of Karnataka and the country.
Disillusioned by the apathy and the frequent accidents on the streets of Davangere, a WhatsApp group called 'Davangere Potholes', was formed by volunteers and discussions were held about fixing the situation.
By Sunday, the group had already filled big potholes near Renuka Mandir and at the Railway underbridge opposite Davangere city corporation, both of which have heavy traffic.
Speaking to TNIE, moderator of the group M G Srikanth said, "Witnessing a lot of accidents at the Railway underbridge in front of the Davangere city corporation, we decided to fill the huge pothole using cement, sand and gravel. Even though the road was busy, we closed a portion of the pothole and then continued work at around 10 pm. The work went on till 12 am."
He also thanked donors, who had contributed cement bags, gravel and sand for the filling of potholes. He added that the team will continue their work till the last pothole in the city is filled and motorists can drive hassle-free.
Our repeated requests to the Davangere city administration had fallen flat, hence, as a last resort we volunteered to fill the potholes on our own, he added.
Rohit S Jain, part of 'Namma Davangere', a group which has been at the forefront of taking the developmental issues and social causes of Davangere on priority said that the idea behind the programme was to make Davangere city beautiful. He added that he was supporting the movement by bearing the cost of gravel.
He added that they worked at night to fill the potholes to avoid blocking the heavy traffic on these roads during the daytime.
Gadigudal Manjunath, leader of the opposition in the Davangere city corporation, commended the volunteers for filling the potholes and said that it was a shame for the Davangere city corporation, that citizens were forced to undertake the pothole work.
He added, "At least now, the city corporation administration should have woken up, but they are still not working on fixing the situation."
Manjunath added that he would join hands with the volunteers in filling the potholes to prevent accidents.