32-year-old Bengaluru Techie Takes Rs 2.7 Lakh Loan To Fix Potholes In The City

Fed up with the government¡¯s ¡°indifference¡± to their pleas to provide better civic amenities including filling potholes, a 32-year-old techie in Bengaluru belonging to ¡®Citizens Group, East Bengaluru¡¯ on Sunday launched a ¡®NoDevelopmentNoTax,¡¯ a campaign to boycott paying property tax.

Last week, members of the group got together and contributed funds to fix potholes on a 6km stretch in Halanayakanahalli, Muneshwara Layout and Choodasandra. And that's not all. The techie has even taken a loan to fix the potholes.

32-year-old Techie Takes Rs 2.7 Lakh Loan To Fix Potholes

@arif2299 paid from his pocket and took a loan for the same! Who will pay his EMI? He is a salaried middle-class citizen with lots of liabilities. Just a love for Bengaluru won¡¯t feed his family! @osd_cmkarnataka @DKShivakumar @siddaramaiah pic.twitter.com/ZkGVHGlhBz

¡ª Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru (@east_bengaluru) August 20, 2023

Arif Mudgal, a founder-member of the group, took a out loan of Rs 2.7 lakh for the purpose. Mudgal witnessed two accidents on Hosa Road a few days ago which prompted him to lend a hand. ¡°A woman staying near my apartment sustained injuries when the auto she was travelling in toppled after it hit a pothole on Hosa Road,¡± he said, as per TOI report.

What Triggered His Decision To Fix The Potholes

indiatimes

"A delivery agent with an e-commerce firm was also injured when he tried to avoid the same pothole on the night of August 14. He collided head-on with a car and suffered a fractured leg. I later learnt he is from Mandya and the sole earner of his nine-member family. I was so upset,¡± he explained.

He said he and other ¡®like-minded¡¯ people founded ¡®Citizens Group, East Bengaluru¡¯ five years ago.

¡°Other members of the group also contributed money and we fixed some potholes,¡± said Mudgal. ¡°But we ran out of funds, so I took a loan.¡± Mithilesh Kumar, a member of the group, said they met people¡¯s representatives from the area several times requesting better roads, drains and other civic amenities, but no one responded.

Also Read: 5 Rights You Must Know As A Loan Defaulter

Fed Up With Govt And Politicians

istock

¡°Politicians are indifferent to these issues. They think residents of these areas are from other states or places. So, we have launched a property tax boycott campaign on Sunday,¡± said Kumar. The campaign was launched on X (formerly Twitter) with the hashtag ¡®NoDevelopmentNoTax¡¯ and Mudgal said the response, so far, has been good. ¡°Some netizens suggested that we pay the tax and then demand better civic amenities from the government,¡± 32-year-old Mudgal said.

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