UP govt claims 63% roads made pothole-free, Oppn terms it eyewash

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday claimed that it has made nearly 63 per cent roads in the state pothole-free and termed it as a record of sorts which the opposition parties dismissed as "mere eyewash".

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said of the 1,21,034 km damaged roads in the state, 76,356 km, which comes out to be 63 percent, have been made pothole-free. The high-performing departments or schemes are Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (96 percent), Public Works Department (82 percent), National Highways Authority of India (81 percent) and State Highways Authority (74 percent), he said at a press conference.

Irrigation and Panchayati Raj departments are the worst- performing, Maurya said.

On March 25, a week after taking oath as the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath had said in Gorakhpur that he has told the PWD officials to ensure that roads in the state are made pothole-free by June 15.

According to official sources, it might take two more months before people can enjoy a smooth ride and claimed the delay was due to the e-tendering process and the new mining policy which has made it difficult to get raw materials.

Maurya alleged that the previous SP and BSP governments did not repair the roads.

"The SP government had taken the state backward by almost 30 years. Many of the Centre's welfare measures were stopped because of political ego. A number of state highways could have been transformed into national highways, but there were no such efforts," he said.

"The work which Akhilesh and Mayawati could not do in so many years, we have done in less than 100 days," the deputy chief minister said, adding the Adityanath government will bring out a white paper on its achievements since March 19.