Hyderabad: The rechristening of a 200-metre stretch of road at Maredpally as ‘KTR-Ivanka Road’ on Tuesday has pushed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) into calling for a tender worth Rs 8 lakh for repairs to the paved-block stretch.
The GHMC action follows a unique protest by agitated residents of the area who, after carrying out road repairs and filling potholes, installed banners stating, ‘Welcome to KTR-Ivanka Trump Road’ with a caution, ‘Please Be Careful’.
A total of six banners were put up along the 40-foot road beside St John's Junior College, close to Sangeeth Crossroads.
The sequence of events began last Sunday when tired of the GHMC’s refusal to repair the pothole-filled stretch, residents of Marredpally took it upon themselves to fill the potholes, which cost them Rs 4,000.
In a jibe at municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao, the stretch was rechristened KTR-Ivanka Trump Road. The 200-metre stretch is a major link between Sangeet Crossroads and West Marredpally, AOC Circle, Safilguda, Malkajgiri, Yapral and Addagutta.
“Does the GHMC act only when residents express their anger and take up the job of repairing roads themselves?” said Shanthi Kumari of Marredpally. The banners attracted the attention of thousands of commuters, and this kind of protest could easily inspire other citizens suffering from damaged roads.
Meanwhile, when Twitter users tagged principal secretary Arvind Kumar on tweets about the condition of roads in Marredpally, his reply was, “This is not a simple case of road repairs! It’s part of a 6-km Manjeera pipeline road from Hi-Tech MMTS to BHEL. The road is frequently damaged due to water pipeline running underneath. The @MDHMWSSB has laid alternate pipes & now Rs 5 crore sanchas been tioned to @CEmaint_GHMC to take up road repairs.”
This tweet, deleted by Kumar within a few minutes, caused a buzz as the road being referred to is in Marredpally and not in Hi-Tech City. Later, Kumar posted another tweet tagging the GHMC chief engineer and GHMC Twitter handles. “Please look into this and take it up immediately. It’s in Marredpally.”
