Ensure coconut cracks, not the road: LS member on quality of roads in UP

Next time, ensure that the coconut cracks and not the road, remarked a member from Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday while flagging concerns about the quality of roads.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member Shyam Singh Yadav made the remarks during the Question Hour while referring to a recent incident where a portion of a newly constructed road got damaged when an elected representative smashed a coconut on the road during its inauguration in Bijnor district.

Smashing a coconut is considered auspicious before starting or inaugurating new projects.

Yadav who represents Jaunpur constituency mentioned about the incident while asking a supplementary question related to construction of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

"The quality of road being constructed in Uttar Pradesh under the PMGSY is very poor. You must have seen, a coconut was smashed on a road in Bijnor. The coconut did not crack but the road cracked...," the member said.

Taking a swipe, he said that in the first stage, the coconut as well as road should crack and in the next stage "the coconut should crack and not the road".

Responding to his query on whether the quality of roads in his constituency will be checked, Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said it will be examined.

When the minister first said that the supplementary question was not related to the main question and that details will be given in writing, Speaker Om Birla intervened.

"How is a supplementary on quality of roads different from the main question and you have to give a reply," Birla told the minister. The minister assured investigations would be done in case of complaints.