Malegaon: Tired of waiting for the Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) to repair and fill the potholes, agitated citizens on Friday took it upon themselves to do the task. And, to shame the civic body, they encircled the repaired potholes with placards reading the sufferings of the local residents due to the pathetic state of the roads.
Surprisingly, the citizens did not have in hand the needed materials in enough quantity. But, once they started the repair work, residents living nearby 'volunteered' the required material they had procured for own construction work.
"We tried to order construction material. But, the suppliers could not oblige because of Diwali vacation. As we struggled for the needed material, to our surprise some of the residents provided them free of cost, and also joined us in the repair work", Rizwan Batterywala, the man behind move, said while talking to ummid.com.
Elaborating on the immediate reasons behind the seemingly unprecedented move, Rizwan said they were complaining to the civic body since last six months. When all their complaints fell on deaf ears, they decided to repair the potholes themselves.
"In fact a couple od days before we were forced to stop for delivery in nearby home a pregnant lady who was on her way to hospital and the auto-rickshaw she was traveling in jumped into the pothole", Rizwan said.
Ironically, the, road joining Azad Nagar and Nayapura wards of the city where the pothole repair worke were done by the local residents, is named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad -leading freedom fighter and India's first education minister.
"It is a shame that we are forced to repair Maulana Abul Kalam Azam Road on the day which coincided with his 127th birth anniversary", Rafeeque Ahmed, a resident, said.
In yet another move to shame the civic body, the local residents have encircled the repaired potholes with telling messages.
One such placard read, "I am a student and aspire to become engineer. My career, and hence my life, is threatened by this pothole. Please save me."
"I am an old and aged man. Someone please save me from these potholes", another read.
Meanwhile, impressed by the repair work done by Maulana Azad Road residents, locals in other areas feel they should also need to do the same if they want to get rid of the potholes.
"We don't expect that the shameless civic body admin would come into action mode even after this. The only option for us if we want to get rid of these potholes is to repeat what the residents of Maulana Azad Road have done", Sarfaraz Afsar, who resides opposite to Azeez Kallu Stadium, said.
Mashriqui Iqbal Road, along the Azeez Kallu Stadium, is notorious for its pathetic condition.