Indian villagers have exposed the laughable quality of roads built under an Indian government project by rolling up the edges of the street like carpet.
In an astonishing video posted to social media, four men can be seen crouching by the side of a road in a village in the Jalna district of Maharashtra, India.
At first glance it looks like they are trying to fold some gray rug, but the camera soon pans out to show that the villagers are in fact pulling what was supposedly newly laid tarmac leading out of the village.
The camera then zooms in to show the pitiful layers of bitumen-like material, which appear to have been slapped onto a large piece of cloth to cover the existing dirt road like a plaster over a wound.
Indian outlets Times Now and the Pune Mirror reported that the villagers began to reprimand the contractors for what they described as ‘fake’ work.
“This is all bogus work done in the name of ‘development,'” one said.
Meanwhile, some 1,500 kilometers away on the other side of the country in the Bhagalpur district, Bihar, locals watched in horror as a massive bridge spectacularly collapsed into the Ganges River below.
Indian outlets Times Now and the Pune Mirror reported that the villagers began berating the contractors for what they described as ‘fake’ work
The men are seen lifting the road in disbelief like a piece of carpet
In the state of Bihar, locals watched in horror as a huge bridge spectacularly collapsed 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-weather roads to connect rural villages across India, improving connectivity and encouraging industrialization, urbanization and social mobility.
The plan, which is still ongoing, claims to have built some 808,000 kilometers of rural roads in the past two decades.
It was initially funded entirely by the government, but in recent years funding has been cut and states have been forced to shoulder some of the financial burden.
Many social media users speculated that state officials had skimped on quality, given cheap contracts to low bidders and pocketed the difference. Others, meanwhile, simply poked fun at the shoddy workmanship.
‘Is it a road? Is it a carpet?’ one wrote, while another joined in: Very good technology! This is called factory-made Road! Simply send the required amount of rolls to the location, unroll and you’re done!’
A third wrote: “Wherever there is a ‘ruling party’ government, there is only loot and corruption!”
Incredible footage from the riverbank shows locals watching in stunned silence as the collapsing concrete spewed water dozens of feet into the air
Villagers exposed poor road quality in Jalna, while a massive bridge collapsed some 1,500 kilometers away in Bhagalpur
The Maharashtra Rural State Road Development Agency later hit back, claiming that they had used ‘innovative construction technology’ to ensure the longevity and sustainability 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 underway.
But authorities in Bihar may not be able to tell the same story.
The Aguwani-Sultanganj Bridge, which is more than three kilometers long, unceremoniously imploded and crashed into the Ganges River.
The incredible structure was under construction and had already collapsed once last November.
National disaster response teams are searching for a security guard who was reported missing in the aftermath of the incident.
The previous collapse killed a worker.
Incredible images from the riverbank showed locals in stunned silence as the collapsing concrete spewed dozens of feet into the air.
The state’s chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has ordered an investigation into the incident and vowed to find those responsible for the structural failure.