In a surprising turn of events, villagers from Karjat and Hast Pokhari in Maharashtra’s Jalna district showcased a seemingly superhuman act by lifting a road with their bare hands. Their remarkable feat was not a demonstration of extraordinary strength, but rather a testament to the ridiculously poor quality of the road they were confronted with. A video capturing the villagers using a thin layer of cloth fabric beneath the concrete to lift the road has now gone viral on social media after being shared multiple times across various platforms.
The villagers claimed that the road was initially being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) before the contractor abandoned the project. Initially hailed as the district’s first road built with advanced German technology, it was later completed in a substandard manner by the authorities, reported Lokmat.
“Look at this, look at this layer. All bogus work is going on,” the residents say in Marathi in the 38-second-long video. “This is all bogus work being carried out in the name of development.”
The residents can also be heard blaming Jalna contractor Rana Thakur for the shoddy condition of the road.
When Kaleen Bhaiya ventures into Road construction 😂😂 The contractor made a fake road— with carpet as a base! #Maharashtra #India #Wednesdayvibe pic.twitter.com/6MpHaL5V6x
— Rohit Sharma 🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@DcWalaDesi) May 31, 2023
The video showing the despicable condition of the road has sparked widespread public outcry. Many people have also taken to creating memes, mocking the state of the so-called “carpet road.”
“This is how middle-class hard-earned tax money is well spent in developing world class-roads and other infrastructures across India,” wrote one Twitter user.
“The contractors should be doubly sure that their work is being observed by so many people. Unlike earlier situations, people are very vigilant,” added another.
Some users, however, were quick to point out that the carpet-like cloth may have been the waterproof geotextile fabric under the concrete.
“I think they have pulled out waterproofing layer,” said one user.
Geotextile fabrics have emerged as a valuable construction material, finding applications in diverse projects such as roads, drainage systems, and retaining walls. The fabric is used to separate, reinforce, filter, or drain different layers of soil or aggregates, and helps in providing stability and preventing erosion. In standard practice, geotextile fabric is not directly placed beneath the concrete top layer. Instead, it is applied atop the soil and subgrade and then covered with a coarse or subbase layer before the concrete layers are poured.