Patna, June 23 While the double engine government of Bihar has been claiming a good road network in the state, a video of National Highway 227 in Madhubani district has taken social media by storm which shows 100 small pool-size potholes on the road.
The highway has more than 100 big potholes in a stretch of over 20 km from the Kaluahi village to Umgaon crossing at Basopatti block in the district.
The local residents claim that the road was in good condition in early 1990 and the Union Road Transport ministry gave it the status of a national highway in 2001. After that, the road construction department of the Bihar government looked after this road. In the last 20 years, the condition deteriorated to such an extent that now it is full of with potholes.
The local residents claim that the road was being used by all the big officers in the state, including the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, local MLA, ministers and even the chief minister, but no action was taken to repair it.
As the road is situated close to the Nepal border, heavy trucks regularly ply on it leading to further deterioration. During the monsoon season, small ponds appear on the road that give one an experience of travelling through a jungle," said a local resident, Raju Kumar.
Local MLA Arun Shankar Prasad said: "Thrice we raised this issue in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, but the road construction department has not taken cognizance of the matter."
Interestingly, the road construction minister of Bihar Nitin Navin comes under the BJP quota in Nitish Kumar government.
Ravindra Kumar, the contractor of this road said: "The department has allotted the tender to me, but has not released the fund. The rate of construction materials has already been increased. We are unable to pay our labourers. Hence, the repairing of the road has not happened so far.
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