Indian villagers have exposed the ridiculous quality of roads built under an Indian government project by rolling up the road edges like carpets.
In a jaw-dropping clip posted on social media, four men are seen squatting on the side of the road in a village in the Jalna district of India’s Maharashtra state.
At first glance, it looks as if they are trying to fold some sort of gray carpet, but the camera quickly cuts to the villagers pulling on what was supposed to be freshly laid asphalt coming out of the village.
The camera then zooms in to show the pitiful layers of bitumen-like material, which appeared to have been slapped onto a large piece of cloth to cover the existing dirt road like a plaster over a wound.
Indian media Times Now and the Pune Mirror reported that the villagers criticized the contractors for what they described as ‘fake’ work.
“This is all fake work carried out in the name of ‘development’,” said one of them.
Meanwhile, some 1,500 kilometers away, on the other side of the country, in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, locals watched in horror as a massive bridge spectacularly collapsed into the Ganges River.
Indian media Times Now and the Pune Mirror reported that the villagers criticized the contractors for what they described as “fake” work.
The men can be seen pulling up the road like a piece of carpet in utter disbelief.
In the state of Bihar, locals watched in horror as a massive bridge collapsed spectacularly into the Ganges River.
In 2000, the Indian government launched an initiative called the Prime Minister’s Village Road Scheme (PMGSY).
The intention was to build a network of all-season roads to link rural villages in India, thus improving connectivity and fostering industrialization, urbanization and social mobility.
The scheme, which is still ongoing, claims to have laid some 808,000 kilometers of rural roads in the last two decades.
Initially, it was fully funded by the government, but in recent years funding has been reduced and states have been forced to shoulder some of the financial burden.
Many social media users speculated that state officials had skimped on quality, awarding cheap contracts to the lowest bidders and pocketing the difference. Meanwhile, others simply scoffed at the shoddy workmanship.
‘Is it a path? Is it a rug? one wrote, while another chimed in: Great tech! This is called a factory made trail! Simply submit the required number of rolls on the site, unroll and you’re all set!’
A third wrote: ‘Wherever there is a ‘ruling party’ government, there is only looting and corruption!’
Incredible footage from the riverbank showed locals watching in stunned silence as collapsing concrete sprayed water tens of meters into the air.
Villagers exposed the shoddy road quality in Jalna, while some 1,500 kilometers away, a huge bridge collapsed in Bhagalpur.
The Maharashtra Rural State Highways Development Agency later responded, stating that they had employed “innovative construction technology” to ensure the longevity and durability of the roads, according to The Hindustan Times.
An agency official reportedly said the villagers’ attempt to remove the “stress-absorbing membrane interface layer” occurred while road works were still in progress.
But the Bihar authorities may not be able to tell the same story.
The Aguwani-Sultanganj Bridge, which measures more than three kilometers long, imploded unceremoniously, crashing into the Ganges River.
The incredible structure was under construction, having collapsed once last November.
National disaster response teams are conducting a search for a guard who was reported missing in the incident.
One worker was killed in the earlier collapse.
Incredible footage from the riverbank showed locals watching in stunned silence as concrete collapsed, spewing water dozens of meters into the air.
The state’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has ordered an investigation into the incident and vowed to find out who was responsible for the structural failure.
I am Rakesh Sharma, I associated with Elite News as an Editor, since 2021. I take care of all the news operations like content, budget, hiring and policy making.