Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed the BJP-led state government has done more work than the previous governments of the last 15 years. . PTI Photo
As the deadline set by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to clear all roads in the state of potholes came to an end on Thursday, the government released data showing it had repaired 63 per cent of such roads. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who heads the Public Works Department (PWD), said the nine departments, which have a total of 1,21,034 kilometres of pothole-ridden roads under their control, have repaired a stretch of 76,356 kilometres.
“That 63 per cent of all roads with potholes have been repaired is a record in itself. It was a tough task to repair these roads in less than three months. We implemented e-tendering for work in the PWD and many departments were not prepared for such large-scale repair work,” said Maurya at a press conference on Thursday.
He claimed the BJP-led state government has done more work than the previous governments of the last 15 years. Maurya said a few departments like Irrigation have not been able to repair their roads as their core competency was not road construction.
Maurya said the PWD, under which falls most roads in the state, repaired 82 per cent of roads under it. He said all repair work had been physically inspected too. Additional Chief Secretary, PWD, Sadakant said the department will continue their mission and target making all roads motorable by October.
He said the removal of potholes from all the roads required three types of repair work. He said the first type needed repair of only small patches of potholes, the second one needed general repair of a road and the third category’s roads were the ones that needed special repair or large-scale rebuilding.
Maurya said the state government is constantly working to improve the road connectivity in the state and 73 state highways will be developed as National Highways by the central government as per the decisions taken at the meeting of the chief minister with Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday.
He said the central government has also given its in-principle approval to the proposals of 10,000 crore under Central Road Fund. Maurya said the central government has also given its approval for development of 320-km six-lane road from Jhansi up to the Agra-Lucknow Expressway via Jalaun, Orai and Bela at the estimated cost of Rs 9,600 crore.
Maurya also said the construction of six-lane bridge on the Ganga in Allahabad at the cost of Rs 2,460 crore, 76-km inner ring road in Allahabad at the cost of Rs 3500 crore, and ring roads or by-pass roads in Bareilly, Goverdhan, Kanpur, Meerut, Moradabad and Gorakhpur have also received approval from the ministry of Road Transport and Highways. He said the building of a Ram Vangaman Road from Ayodhya to Chitrakoot has also been approved.
Opposition says it is ‘an eyewash’
State Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh said, “The people of UP have now started realising that they have been duped by this government.”Lucknow: State Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh said, “The people of UP have now started realising that they have been duped by this government.”“The chief minister and his deputy are MPs and cannot select an Assembly constituency for themselves. There is no point in talking about pothole-free roads, their claim is a mere eyewash,” he said.
