The contest has been organised by the youth organisation, Muse. (Express photo) The contest has been organised by the youth organisation, Muse. (Express photo)

NEXT TIME you spot a pothole, don’t just cringe but take a minute or two to capture it. The otherwise “killer craters” might just turn lucky for you, helping you win the ‘Mera Khadda Mahaan’ contest organised on Facebook page ‘PWD — Potholes Warrior Department’.

Having invited photo entries to spot the biggest pothole, the page aims to attract the attention of civic authorities. Launched by the youth organisation, Muse, the page has received entries from Mumbai and its satellite towns of Kalyan, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

“Since the PWD is creating these potholes, we thought we will have a potholes warrior department or PWD, which will repair them. We have used sarcasm to draw the attention of the authorities,” said Nishant Bangera, founder of Muse.

To feature on the page, locals post their picture of a pothole with the hashtag #merakhaddamahaan. Since the contest began on July 16, the page has seen around 30 posts and over 300 followers.

“Last year, after coming across news reports on a pothole related death, we decided to file RTIs to get the FIR copies of deaths caused due to potholes in and around Mumbai. We found out that the police classifies these deaths as accidents and only in a few cases, where the culpability of any authority is found, an accidental death report (ADR) is converted into an FIR. But these are not accidents. These are clear murders,” Bangera said.

“From the entries submitted so far, the biggest pothole seems to be in Thane… there is another in Ghatkopar vying for the position. We have planned surprise gifts for the winner and the runner up,” said Mohit Pal, a volunteer with Muse.

The contest will culminate on July 22 with a felicitation ceremony, where concerned authorities have been invited. Those invited include Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil and BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta. The group will also organise a peaceful protest, ‘Kill the Pothole’, at Thane toll outpost on Sunday. “It is here that the government collects money to maintain roads,” Pal said.

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