Senior couple is filling potholes, what is GHMC doing, asks HC

‘Why should they not be paid wages... spending their own money?’

Expressing dissatisfaction over the condition of roads in the State capital, Telangana High Court on Wednesday observed that Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) authorities should be ashamed that an elderly couple is spending their savings on filling potholes on Hyderabad roads. A bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy instructed the officials to furnish a report on the status of roads in 30 circles of the six zones in GHMC. The direction was issued after the HC suo moto took up as PIL petition a news report in a newspaper over retired employee Gangadhar Tilak, 73, and his wife Venkateshwari, 64, spending his pension money on filling potholes. When the hearing began, GHMC standing counsel Krishna Reddy informed the court that officials and staff of the civic body were working round-the-clock to beautify the city roads and construct flyover bridges. Not agreeing with his contentions, the bench cautioned the counsel against making such claims.