The Road Doctor

Gangadhar Tilak Katnam, famously known as the ‘Road Doctor’, is on a mission to fill potholes in Hyderabad to make the city a safer place to live in. To date, Gangadhar and his wife, Venkateshwari Katnam, have filled more than 2000 potholes and have spent around Rs. 40 lakhs of their own money for this. That shows his commitment, dedication and intensity to this cause.

But how did this service attitude turn into an iron-like commitment and dedication?

One day, while driving, Gangadhar’s car hit a pothole. It splashed muddy water onto the nearby kids. Their dress got spoiled, and the children also got wet. Anyone else would have simply driven past those kids. But not Gangadhar. He was embarrassed. He felt ashamed, though the fault was not wholly his. He immediately approached a local shop and spent about Rs. 5,000 to fill the pothole. The incident profoundly impacted him, and he decided to do something about this nuisance in the city.

During the same time, Gangadhar also witnessed some severe accidents. He saw a person losing his limbs due to an accident caused by a pothole. He also saw one auto colliding with a bus as it lost control due to the pothole.

Gangadhar was troubled to see the negligence of the authorities in this matter. Despite informing and complaining many times, he did not see any action taken by the municipal administration to fill the potholes and manholes. It was then that Gangadhar decided to take matters into his hand. He started keeping a bag of gravel in the backseat of his car. Whenever he would spot any pothole on the road, he would stop and fill the pothole all by himself.

Employed with the railways, Gangadhar would use his lunch time to commute around, find any pothole, fill it and return to work. However, the job was intense, and to justify his commitment towards safer roads, Gangadhar decided to leave his job and get on to full-time work of filling potholes.

Gangadhar started with a few gunny bags filled with gravel which he would collect from nearby construction sites. However, with time, a new challenge came his way. The gravels were either unavailable or not available for free. By this time, Gangadhar’s dedication had reached such heights that he started purchasing it from contractors.

Initially, Venkateshwari was not in favour of his new-found mission. She was worried about his health, as filling potholes is physically challenging. He called their son from the USA to discuss the matter. After seeing the ground reality and sensing his father’s call to mission, their son decided to help him. He started sending money from the USA to help his father purchase raw materials. Venkateshwari finally understood that his mission was not just covering potholes but saving people’s lives. She decided to support her husband and even join in his effort. The couple filled thousands of potholes with their own money for two years.

Initially, people made fun of them. However, some good Samaritans came forward to support and help them. In June 2012, the GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) took cognisance of Gangadhar and Venkateshwari Katnam’s efforts and started supplying the BT mix material. Gradually, as people became aware of this one-man army, they started helping him. Many volunteers from IT companies and other NGOs also came forward to assist.

Gangadhar’s fantastic work has undoubtedly given us a reason to celebrate the power of the common man. For his noble work, the Gangadhar Tilak Katnam is now referred to as the ‘Road Doctor’. The couple was felicitated by the Governor of Telangana for their dedication to the citizen of the city.

“My war is against laziness, selfishness and corruption. Many are just lazy and the idea of doing something for the society or the surroundings does not even cross their mind. I don’t want to preach anything, but want to show all what can be achieved, if we decide to, by my work.” Gangadhar Tilak Katnam.

Credits and suggested further reading:

https://yodhas.com/yodha-stories/unheard-inspiring-stories-of-real-life-yoddhas/

https://www.thebetterindia.com/24115/67-year-old-man-used-his-pension-to-fill-dangerous-potholes-of-hyderabad-roads/

https://lifebeyondnumbers.com/gangadhar-tilak-katnam-fixing-potholes-hyderabad/