Over 98% potholes levelled across UP, says PWD

96% of potholes levelled on 170 kms roads in Lucknow; Kanpur Municipal Corporation claims patchwork on 100 km roads, but insiders say less than 10% target achieved

LUCKNOW/KANPUR/PRAYAGRAJ Over 98% (98.86%) of 59,572 kms of roads across Uttar Pradesh had been made pothole free by November 30 while only 56.65% restoration of roads was achieved by the PWD, said officials.

In October, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to launch a massive campaign to make roads of the state pothole-free. He set November 15 as the deadline for repair of all roads. Later, it was extended till November 30. (HT Photo)

As for the state capital, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) managed to fill around 96% of the potholes on 170 kms of roads till Monday. It could only restore 26% of the roads, said Mahesh Varma, chief engineer, LMC.

“The LMC will repair rest of the roads tonight to reach the target of 100% pothole-free roads in Lucknow,” he added. However, the restoration of roads by relaying new ones would continue for a bit longer.

In October, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to launch a massive campaign to make roads of the state pothole-free. He set November 15 as the deadline for repair of all roads. Later, it was extended till November 30.

“The PWD took up the challenge of repairing around 59,572 km of roads and has done wonderfully well. The department worked day and night to achieve the target of levelling all the potholes. It spared a budget of ₹500 crore for the repair work,” stated Sandeep Kumar, engineer-in-chief, Public Works Department.

“Better connectivity is the medium of progress. We have been able to repair almost all the roads in the state for better connectivity to cities and villages. The state has a network of excellent roads till the border areas, which has improved people’s quality of life,” he added.

The Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC) claimed that it completed patchwork on 100 km of roads. The civic body had taken the responsibility of doing patch work on 100 km roads, whereas it has 1219 km of roads under its jurisdiction. The target achieved was less than 10% of the roads it maintains, said insiders, adding that 270 km roads remain full of “gaddhas”.

However, KMC chief engineer Manish Awasthi said the corporation had taken up work on additional 33km of roads and the job would be completed in next one week.

Similarly, the PWD claimed to have levelled 94% of the potholes on 884 km roads. According to PWD officials, 6% of the work was remaining in rural areas. “We have filled the potholes in urban limits and only a handful of roads remain in rural areas. It will be completed soon,” said Parvez Ahmad, chief engineer, PWD (Kanpur).

Many roads in Prayagraj still presented a poor picture. The busy old GT Road between Bahadurganj and Khuldabad crossing was one such example. Commuters here were dealing with around half a dozen potholes, which had still not been filled. Similarly, motorists passing through the Baihrana crossing also had to maneuver around potholes.

Talking about all the sections of PWD roads, out of a total of 8623 km of roads, work was to be completed on about 930km. “A list of 137 dilapidated roads was prepared under the pothole-free campaign. For repairs in the urban area, 43kms of potholes had to be filled. This entire task has been completed,” said an executive engineer level officer.

However, if one talks about Sarojini Naidu Marg, Kamla Nehru Road and Lowther Road, they have not been repaired till date as they need comprehensive work. PWD officials maintain that in place of patchwork, these roads are under the “repair plan” category. “Tenders for the work have been issued and they too would be fully repaired soon,” said a PWD officer

The condition of roads under the Prayagraj Nagar Nigam is more or less the same, many of which continue to sport potholes.