Most people see a pothole and slow down.Gangadhar Tilak Katnam saw something else; a possible accident waiting to happen.
Born into a poor farming family in Yernagudem village of West Godavari district, Gangadhar completed his schooling in his village before moving to Eluru for higher studies. He earned a diploma in Electrical Engineering and eventually joined the Indian Railways, where he served for nearly 35 years.
After retirement, he moved to Hyderabad and took up a job as a design engineer with a private company.That was when the roads began to bother him.
One day in 2010, while driving, his car went through a water-filled pothole and splashed muddy water onto school children walking nearby. Soon after, he witnessed accidents caused by potholes, including a biker being hit while trying to avoid one. He complained to the authorities, but when nothing changed, Gangadhar decided to stop waiting.He would fix them himself.
He quit his job and began using his pension to buy the materials needed to repair dangerous potholes. His wife, Venkateshwari, joined him in the mission. Together, they would drive around Hyderabad in their car, carrying gravel, bitumen and tools. They called it the “Pothole Ambulance.” And Gangadhar became known as the “Road Doctor.”
Over the years, the retired railway engineer and his wife repaired more than 2,000 potholes, reportedly spending around ₹40 lakh of their own money.But Gangadhar didn’t want his work to remain a one-couple effort.
He started Sramadhan, encouraging citizens and students to join hands and take responsibility for their surroundings. His work even drew the attention of civic authorities, who began supplying materials and asked the couple to coordinate with the municipal body.
His greatest impact, however, cannot be counted only in potholes. It is in the accidents that may never have happened. It is in the commuters who reached home safely.
And in the people who learned that fixing a problem does not always have to begin with asking, “Who will do it?”Sometimes, it begins with asking, “Why can’t I?”
Gangadhar Tilak Katnam spent a lifetime working on India’s railway lines. After retirement, he found another set of lines that needed him—the roads beneath our feet.
And he chose to heal them, one pothole at a time.
