Winter Session | Only Coconut Should Break, Not Road During Inauguration : UP MP Roasts Govt On Poor Construction Quality

Lok Sabha (File Picture)

A Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) on December 7 put the spotlight on the ‘poor’ quality of rural roads constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Uttar Pradesh by referring to a recent incident in which a portion of a brand new road cracked open instead of the coconut used to inaugurate it.

Speaking during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, Shyam Singh Yadav, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader, suggested that the government should ensure that next time the coconut should break and the road remains during any inauguration.

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“Roads being constructed in UP under PMGSY are of poor quality. We saw recently how coconut couldn’t break but the road broke during an inauguration.  Similarly, in my region (Jaunpur ) roads are not of good quality,” Yadav, the MP from Jaunpur in UP said.

PMGSY is a centrally-sponsored nationwide scheme to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages.

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Yadav was referring to an incident on December 3 in which a BJP MLA Suchi  Chaudhary in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor called to inaugurate a seven-kilometre road rebuilt at a cost of Rs 1.16 crore found herself in a spot when a coconut-cracking ritual ended up damaging the road instead of the coconut.

The furious legislator from Bijnor Sadar seat protested at the spot for three hours for a team of officers to arrive and take samples of the road to investigate. The district magistrate ordered an inquiry into the construction of the stretch.

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“I request the government to make sure if next time someone breaks a coconut (during inauguration) at least both coconut and road break. In next stages, we should ensure that only coconut breaks and the road remains,” Yadav said in Lok Sabha urging Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Union Minister of State for Rural Development to ensure that the quality of roads constructed in Jaunpur is probed by National Quality Monitor.

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The minister said it was not a connected question, after which Speaker Om Birla asked her to respond “We will allow the probe,” the minister said.

The road in question was constructed by the Irrigation Division in the Kheda Azizpura village of Haldaur police station in the Bijnor Sadar seat held by Suchi Chaudhary