Intensity
The Man with Intense Fire.
Gangadhara Tilak Katnam was not a man of quiet contemplation. He carried the city's broken roads with him everywhere — restless, unable to sit while a single pothole lay open. The stillness in this photograph is the exception he wished he had allowed himself more often. The repairs, the counselling, the responsibility coaching, the endless days at work: that was the rule.
In his own words
In his own words
What drove him
“Sympathy. Concern. Solution. Action.” — his own summary of Shramadaan, in the order he puts them. Action last, and action loudest. What follows is what he has said on the record.
“After witnessing several accidents on the roads because of potholes, I decided to do something about the issue and to find a solution.”
ANI, via Stories of India
12 October 2023
Read it “I was driving to my first day of office when I ended up splashing dirty mud water on school going children after my car fell into a pothole on the road.”
The News Minute
4 June 2015
Read it “At first, I made an effort to voice my concerns to the police and Municipality representatives, but to no avail. At that point, I made the decision to seal these potholes on my own.”
ANI, via Stories of India
12 October 2023
Read it “When a 70 year old person is able to fill a pothole in hours, why is the government failing, especially when they spend hundreds of crores of rupees on other issues?”
Citizen Matters
21 February 2019
Read it “I carry around 300 kg of the required equipment in my car. Whenever I notice a dangerous pothole, I stop the vehicle and fill it up.”
The News Minute
20 September 2017
Read it His was a restless energy — and he spent every ounce of it on the roads of Hyderabad.
Shramadaan continues every day in Hyderabad — and it welcomes more hands.