NEW DELHI: "As much as 80-85% of roads in Uttar Pradesh are free of potholes," claimed deputy chief minister and PWD minister of the state Keshav Prasad Maurya in an interview to Navbharat Times on Tuesday.That's 15% short of the target date for 100% pothole-clearing set by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath . Immediately upon assuming office, the chief minister had issued instructions to clear all the state's roads of potholes by June 15.Sources at the Public Works Department said that repair work of all the 1,121,816 km roads in the state would not be possible by the deadline. It was communicated during the high-level review meeting that the budget required for this is not available with the department. The PWD needs Rs 4,500 crore for the repair of all the roads, while the available budget is only Rs 1,250 crore.Maurya said in its three months in office the new BJP government has achieved a lot. He however didn't answer a question about how long it will take for all of the state's villages to be electrified.

Source: Times of India June 14, 2017 10:11 UTC