Hubballi: In an attempt to attract the attention of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation towards the pathetic condition of roads in the city, citizens and students have created a Rangoli of elected representatives and officials in the potholes!
The colourful design has been made on the bad roads in Shirur park represented by Opposition leader in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar as citizens are fed up with the bumpy rides. Interestingly, officials rushed to the locality to fill the potholes temporarily after facing embarrassment because of the unique protests.
Last year, a team of doctors had symbolically performed plastic surgery by wearing masks and gloves at the pits on the NH between the twin cities to condemn the failure of officials in repairing roads. Several citizens offered Bagina to waterlogged potholes as a mark of protest. But, this failed to bring any positive result, forcing the citizens to create Rangoli this time as heavy dust is causing serious health problems to commuters. The citizens complain that officials fill the potholes with soil and stones unscientifically without using sufficient tar. They want the municipal corporation to return the ISO certification obtained by it for quality management.
“More than 70 per cent of the area in Shettar's constituency lacks basic amenities. The ruling BJP corporators used funds, meant for an underground drainage project, to repair the roads before elections to local bodies to attract voters. Now, there are innumerable potholes on the roads due to substandard work. This has led to a breakdown of our vehicles, causing serious injuries to people due to accidents", said citizen Mahesh Nalwad who is also a local Congress leader.
Mr Shettar had managed to release '200 crore special grants for infrastructure development, including roads, Hubbballi-Dharwad twin cities during his tenure as CM. Now, BJP leaders allege that the twin cities are reeling from lack of basic amenities as the municipal corporation has not received grants from the present government.
