Arun Kumar Sagar, BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur, speaks to Liz Mathew What was the issue you raised during Zero Hour? National Highway 24 goes through my constituency. Currently, the Bareilly-Shahjahanpur-Sitapur highway is under construction. In fact, it has been under construction for the past 11-12 years. First, the contract was with one company, later it was changed, but the construction is not progressing properly. Is the delay the issue? It is one issue. Because of that, there are long traffic jams. Sometimes vehicles are stranded for 12 hours. It is troublesome for people. You also talked about the poor quality of the highway Yes, it is of very poor quality. It is muddy, and with one rain, everything goes off. Vehicles get stuck in mud, and there are a lot of potholes already. The administration involved in the road construction colludes with contractors and uses substandard materials, leading to the deterioration. Had you raised the issue with the government earlier? I have written multiple letters to the ministry, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) and even the NHAI chairman. I have met officials several times. Nothing has been done yet. Now, what is your next step? I have written to Union Minister (of Road Transport and Highways) Nitin Gadkari. I do not think it is the same situation in other parts of the state. I am grateful to him for sanctioning roads in my constituency. But I would again request him to look into it and see that action is taken against those responsible for the delay and the damages.
