‘Astronauts’ land on road craters: Over 100 Jaipur residents stage unique protest against potholes
NEW DELHI: What if you could experience the Moon without leaving Jaipur? More than 100 residents of Gokulpura in the Jhotwara assembly area attempted to answer that question on Thursday by turning their neighbourhood’s pothole-riddled roads into a makeshift lunar landscape.Residents of Gokulpura’s wards 46 and 47 staged a two-hour protest from 10 am to noon on Pratap Circle Road, with two protesters dressed as astronauts and stepping into large, water-filled potholes.The unusual protest was aimed at highlighting the condition of roads and drainage in the area, which residents said has deteriorated after recent rains.
Residents say potholes have become ‘Moon and Mars’ craters
The protesters said they have been trying for around three months to draw the attention of Jhotwara MLA and minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Jaipur rural MP Rao Rajendra Singh, former councillors and officials of the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) and Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC).Some residents alleged that they had repeatedly failed to meet Rathore, while on some occasions his staff told them he was “busy”.Protester Devendra Pratap Singh said the astronaut-themed protest was meant to underline the scale of the problem.
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“If potholes resemble the Moon and Mars, why spend billions on rockets when Jhotwara is already offering the full experience, complete with monsoon water features,” Singh said.He added that the protest was intended to show that the potholes left after the rains had become so large that they resembled craters on the Moon and Mars.Residents raised concerns over broken roads, poor drainage and large potholes that have worsened following the recent rains.Sources told TOI that tenders for drainage and road construction work in the constituency have already been awarded. The work is expected to begin after the monsoon ends.
