From planting rice saplings to swimming in potholes: Here's how Indians protest against bad roads

From ‘roti, kapda, makaan’ (food, clothes and a roof over head) to ‘sadak, bijli, paani’ (roads, power and potable water), past governments have promised it all, and yet, at least, potholed roads are but a refrain in many a part of India.

While promises have been tall, protests, when words have failed, too have been, equally bizarre and stinging.

Recently, residents of Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, decided to protest against the pothole-riddled road connecting the district to the neighbouring Manendragarh district, according to a report by India Today. They planted flowers on the sides of the road, installed deck chairs and arranged snacks to make it appear like a beach, according to the report.

Even today ‘tooti-footi sadke’ or bad roads continue to be a constant civic problem in the country and much like the people of Anuppur, many others too have held unique protests from time to time to draw attention to the poor conditions of roads in the country. We take a look:

In 2021, actor Poornachandra Mysore donned a spacesuit and then walked through crater-like potholes in the Herohalli area of Bengaluru to draw attention to the plight of the roads in the city.

Hello bbmp👋 @BBMPCOMM @BBMP_MAYOR @bbm #thelatest #streetart #nammabengaluru #herohalli pic.twitter.com/hsizngTpRH

— baadal nanjundaswamy (@baadalvirus) September 2, 2019

In Kohima, Nagaland, members of a forum on Facebook took to the streets in protest against the deplorable condition of roads under the motto ‘Mission Potholes’. People surrounded the pothole and some stepped into them with fishing rods and paddy saplings. They put up placards, which read ‘Drive slow: farmers planting rice ahead’ and ‘Drive slow: men fishing ahead’. This was followed by women, dressed up as mermaids, who sat in and around potholes.

In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in 2021 women held a mock outdoor fashion show. They pretended like they were walking the ramp, hoping that their quirky demonstration urges authorities to act.

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Several women and children of a locality near Hoshangabad Road in #Bhopal, adopted a novel way to draw the attention of the government to the potholed roads in the area. They performed a catwalk on the potholed roads and made the video viral on #socialmedia. pic.twitter.com/ebYrpbOL87

— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) September 5, 2021

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over extensive waterlogging in Delhi in 2021, BJP leader Tajinder Bagga went “rafting" on an inundated road.

केजरीवाल जी मौज करदी pic.twitter.com/fn3zCWwhgF

— Tajinder Bagga (@TajinderBagga) September 11, 2021

In 2015, Youth Congress members in Bharanikkavu panchayat in Kerala’s Alappuzha district protested the bad condition of roads by getting live ducks to swim in a large pothole to create the impression of a pond, according to News Minute:

In 2017, Nityananda Olakadu, social activist and president of the Zilla Nagarika Samiti, staged a unique protest to express his anger against official apathy towards the condition of the roads in Manipal, Karnataka. He “swam” in one of them. Watch:

While protests such as these continue, so does the indifference of authorities. Small organisations like Hyderabad-based “We Can Make a Change” have taken it upon themselves to repair potholes rather than wait for civic authorities to wake up and smell the danger.

It is no petty problem. In 2020, a total of 3,564 road accidents took place in India because of potholes, many of them being fatal and claiming hundreds of lives.

With input from agencies

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