Indian roads are quite infamous for its large number of potholes. The problem is so grave that learning drivers in the country are given a whole class on how to avoid these massive potholes on the roads. Annoyed with how the governing body fails to tackle the situation, several NGOs and activists have written to the administration and showcased the way foreign countries deal with it. But sadly, all their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

However, an NGO based in Nagpur has found a new way to help in filling up the potholes and bring shame to the concerned body at the same time. Janmanch, a non-profit organisation has shocked the residents and commuters by its novel act of filling potholes using cement concrete mix.

Promod Pande, president of Janmanch, told The Logical Indian that they have reached out to the civic bodies who are responsible for looking after the roads, but to no avail. He further said that my team and I, after receiving no response from the authorities went ahead to fill the potholes.

How was the plan executed

The hectic task started at 8 AM on April 5 (Sunday) and was wrapped up by 2 PM. The team tried to finish the task soon to avoid intense sun rays. “We called for a ready-mix concrete truck, and all our 25-30 volunteers helped us to execute the task successfully,” he added. Traffic police officials helped the NGO team to find the dangerous potholes as they handed them over the list of pothole-ridden roads.

Pande appreciating his team’s effort said, “We covered a distance of 20-25 KM within 6 hours and filled 50 potholes.” He further said that the entire time required for filling of a single pothole was somewhere between 5 to 10 minutes. Due to such fast execution of the task, the traffic did not suffer.

The NGO asked the residents of the area to timely water these concrete mix. The team faced difficulties while filling the potholes on the road connecting Sardar Patel Square and Kamgar Nagar Square.

Back story

On asking what made the NGO take up the act, he said, “ An incident of a Zomato delivery guy losing his life due to a massive pothole made us pull up or socks and led to the inception of the idea of filling up the potholes.” The delivery guy lost his balance while riding over the pothole and was later crushed under a truck. “Following the incident, we questioned why is the truck driver was the only one arrested when government officials looking after the road is equally guilty”.

After this incident, Pande and his team decided that no such accidents should happen in their city.

Surprisingly, traffic police administration two months back had written to the municipal corporation, and other government agencies, which owns the roads such as Nagpur Improvement trust and National Highways Authority of India explaining the numbers of potholes in eight phases have increased and how these are dangerous to the motorists. However, no suitable reply was given to them.

Pande believes that his 11-year-old NGO will keep on doing the good work and will not fail to raise voice against the government’s carelessness in safeguarding environment and roads. “Nagpur is developing at a colossal rate which I appreciate, but in doing so, the government, unintentionally making potholes. They should not walk away from their responsibility of filling them.”

India’s pothole scenario

The country’s potholes have not been filled in the recent past, but only have increased. These have significantly raised the number of pothole deaths. Reportedly, around 9,300 people killed and 2,500 people were injured due to potholes between 2015 – 2017. The Supreme Court after in 2018 had expressed its concern on the rising figure and had said that deaths due to potholes are more than those killed by terrorists and on the border.

The Logical Indian Take

We ask our readers to take their initiative and try to fill potholes if possible. Together we all can decrease the number of road accidents. To the motorists, who are the primary victims of the pothole, we advise them to wear helmets. We ask the government body to try to fill the potholes at the quickest, as one cannot just avoid taking roads. We appreciate the work undertaken by the Janmanch NGO and hope that they continue their work.

Also Read: Meet The Pune Man Who Volunteered With 60 Social Groups & NGOs For Various Social Causes