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Business News›News›Politics and Nation›Meet the dad who fills potholes out of love for his dead son

Meet the dad who fills potholes out of love for his dead son

Thousands of Indians killed every year

Thousands of Indians killed every year

Dadarao Bilhore smoothes the road surface, rests his shovel, looks to the sky and prays for his son, one of thousands of Indians killed every year in accidents caused by potholes.

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AFP
A promising student

A promising student

Prakash Bilhore, a promising student, was just 16 when he died in July 2015 in Mumbai, India's hectic financial and Bollywood capital of 20 million people.

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BCCL
Filled in almost 600 potholes

Filled in almost 600 potholes

To help deal with his grief, Prakash's devastated father Dadarao decided he would do something about Mumbai's roads, which like much of India's, are notoriously shoddy.

Using sand and gravel collected from building sites, Bilhore has filled in almost 600 potholes across India's financial capital in the past three years.

The 48-year-old vegetable vendor does it to pay tribute to his beloved son and in the hope that it will save lives.

3/6
AFP

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Potholes are so common

Potholes are so common

Prakash Bilhore was travelling pillion when the motorbike he was on with his cousin hit a deep pothole, sending them both flying through the air.

Prakash, who wasn't wearing a helmet, suffered fatal brain damage. His cousin, who was wearing a helmet, walked away with minor injuries.

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AFP
Crater-like holes

Crater-like holes

The tragic accident occurred during Mumbai's summer monsoon when heavy rains are blamed for causing crater-like holes on the teeming coastal city's roads.
Potholes are so common that a campaign is under way to have Mumbai featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the city with the most potholes.

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AFP
Repaired 585 potholes

Repaired 585 potholes

He says he has repaired 585 potholes, many of them alone; others with the help of volunteers who are inspired by his story.
Bilhore has been featured in countless Indian newspaper articles and received several awards, earning him the nickname "pothole dada", an affectionate term in India for a respected male.
Text: AFP

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BCCL

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