I have begun one good habit after relocating home ... going for a long walk early in the morning. Although there was a park just below the apartment where I lived in Dubai, I always had excuses for not making the most of it. These ranged from long working hours to the heat and humidity. I convinced myself then that walking to the bus stop or Metro station was exercise enough.

Well, I came back to heat and humidity in India, but knew that my feeble excuses wouldn’t cut any ice with siblings and nephews who spoke to me about the importance of keeping active and healthy. So, I started my morning constitutional and, surprisingly, have begun to enjoy being more active. Of course, the experience is no walk in the park with roads filled with potholes and vehicles seeming to make a beeline for you when all they are doing is avoiding bad patches. This requires them to veer to the side and get off the non-existent road and on to the pavement, much to the dismay of pedestrians.

Just as the weather is a hot favourite as a topic of conversation in Dubai, the deplorable condition of roads in India is what everyone talks about. The apathy of the civic bodies responsible for their upkeep rouses ire as well as resignation to a sorry state of affairs that is not likely to be addressed any time soon.

With the onset of the monsoon, the problem is exacerbated, as the potholes dotting these roads fill with water and the unwary motorcyclist finds himself getting into a rut, both figuratively and literally. Accidents are routinely reported in the local newspapers and questions are raised over who will take responsibility for improving the situation. A timeline of similar accidents caused by bad roads is printed as well as the fatalities.

Then one day I read an article that filled me with admiration. A 12-year-old boy voluntarily started filling potholes on a stretch of road near his house after seeing motorists and two-wheelers weaving from side to side in order to avoid the craters, and adding to the traffic chaos. Soon he was joined by others and as their efforts received notable attention in the print media, the authorities were moved to take action and do what they should have done in the first place.

The boy’s actions have inspired others. Recently, senior citizens gathered at a particularly bad stretch of a road whose condition is frequently mentioned in letters to the editor. They do not live in the vicinity, but decided that they would swing into action and perhaps shame the civic body into emulating their example. They organised truckloads of sand and rubble collected from construction sites and began the laborious process of filling the gaping holes. Several men wore reflective jackets and alerted commuters to what lay ahead.

What elated these volunteers was the response from passers-by. Many stopped to applaud their efforts and to express their frustration over the condition of the road used by hundreds of thousands every day. Some even got out of their vehicles and joined in.

It is a small start and it is quite possible that the next spate of rain will wash away their hard work, but theirs’ is more of a symbolic gesture to make those in power realise that enough is enough and the ordinary man on the street can only take so much. This voluntary effort garnered a lot of attention in the press and, hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for those whose responsibility it is to provide basic amenities to taxpayers.

It is sad that citizens are forced to take matters into their own hands to focus attention on problems faced in everyday situations.

Vanaja Rao is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad, India.