New Gandhigiri' in UP: Flowers placed on potholes
The initiative launched in Kanpur and Gorakhpur has a group of youth putting soil in potholes and then planting flowering plants into them.
Lucknow: Do not be surprised if you see a rose blooming in the middle of the road or a bunch of marigolds spreading sunshine in another corner in some cities of Uttar Pradesh.
A private radio channel in UP has decided to follow the initiative launched earlier this year in New York and Montreal to draw attention towards potholed roads. This can be termed as a “Gandhigiri” of sorts.
The initiative launched in Kanpur and Gorakhpur has a group of youth putting soil in potholes and then planting flowering plants into them.
The idea is to draw attention to the potholes. “The more the flowers, the more the potholes on a road,” said Ashish, a volunteer working on the drive.
The radio channel has even created its own anthem for the campaign which goes thus: “City city pata chala hai, gaddha dekh ke phool khila hai” — a takeoff on the famous “Jungle jungle pata chala, chaddhi pehen ke phool khila hai” from Jungle Book. The campaign, however, has drawn flak from environmentalists and plant lovers.
“These young people are simply wasting and killing plants... Cars and vehicles will run over them and they will be crushed within no time. This is not the way to attract attention of the government — no one is bothered in any case,” said Anshula Jauhari, a plant lover in Kanpur.