Hyderabad: Twelve-year-old Ravi Teja took the responsibility of filling the potholes that are present on almost every road in the city. The boy is from Habsiguda area and had witnessed a deadly accident recently, in which a family of three met an accident while avoiding a pothole, succumbed to head injuries.
The braveheart Teja thought it was better to take up the task of repairing the road himself rather than depending on civic authorities, who don’t consider potholes as a danger to life.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, in a meeting on May 1, had directed the officials of the department of roads and buildings to fill up all the potholes in Telangana by the end of the month. He also had said that funds would be released from the budget. He had warned officials of strict actions if repair did not take place. However, a month has passed and roads have worsened due to the heavy rains.
“After watching the accident on the Habsiguda road, I thought I should do something from my side to see that such accidents do not recur,” Teja told the Hindustan Times. “I have been doing it for the last one week, whenever I get the time.”
Teja is the son of D Suryanarayana, a construction worker, while his mother is a homemaker. He collects broken bricks, gravel and stones from nearby areas and starts filling the potholes with them. Teja works patiently to repair the potholes, despite heavy traffic and pollution.
The actions of the Class 6 student at a local government school caught the attention of the locals, who appreciated his civic responsibility. “Nobody told me to do so. I did it on my own. And, I will continue to do it,” Teja said when asked who gave him the idea of filling the potholes.
He was also distressed to read about the death of an 18-month old toddler, Chinnari, who fell into an open borewell at Chevella in Ranga Reddy district a few days ago. “Such mishaps should not happen. I will do by bit to avoid such accidents,” he said. “I will also ask my friends to join me in filling up the potholes.”