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Unnao (UP), Sep 1 (PTI): A portion of the Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district caved in after heavy rain, creating a pit about seven feet deep and prompting the agency responsible for its maintenance to divert traffic and begin repairs, officials said on Tuesday.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the state government over the condition of the expressway, sarcastically calling it the country's "first express waterway". He also claimed that the potholes were "carpeted" instead of being filled and accused the BJP government of turning expressways into a "drawing room" of corruption.

The damage was reported near Basiratganj toll plaza at the 423.6-kilometre mark on the Prayagraj-bound carriageway, close to a rest area. Barricading was put up, and traffic was diverted to the other lane about 300 metres before the damaged stretch, they said.

Employees of Patel Infrastructure, which constructed about 2,000 km of the expressway and is involved in its maintenance, spotted the damaged portion during a night patrol and repair work was subsequently started.

A senior official of the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), which operates the expressway, told PTI that repairs began immediately after the damage was noticed and the pits were filled using concrete mixers to ensure commuters did not face problems.

Work is also underway at other spots where similar damage or problems have been noticed, he said.

"We are continuously monitoring the expressway so that no such problem affects the movement of people and travel remains smooth," the official said in Lucknow.

A video related to the incident also surfaced on social media, showing a shawl placed over the pit. It was claimed in the video that the shawl had been put there to conceal the pothole, though there was no independent or official confirmation about who placed it or why.

Several other videos showing pits and rainwater accumulating on the expressway also surfaced on social media. Some commuters spoke about difficulties faced while travelling on the stretch and expressed hope that better maintenance would ensure smoother movement.

Yadav, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, shared a video clip showing waterlogging at a toll plaza connecting the Ganga Expressway to another road and wrote, "BJP has built the country's first express waterway!"* In another post, sharing a news clip showing a damaged stretch of the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, he alleged that the BJP's "carpet development" was marked by potholes and said, "The BJP is turning expressways into a drawing room of its corruption." Unnao has witnessed intermittent rain over the past five days. This is the second reported incident of road damage on the Ganga Expressway in the district this monsoon.

On August 17, a portion of the road near Sonik village under Dahi police station area had caved in at the 421-kilometre mark. Soil along about 200 metres of the roadside had been washed away, damaging the road. The maintenance company repaired the stretch within two days.

During rain late Monday night, the road again caved in near the Basiratganj toll plaza, about 2.5 km from the earlier spot. The pit is reported to be around five feet wide and seven feet deep.

The nearly 594-km Ganga Expressway connects Meerut with Prayagraj. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it in Hardoi on April 29 this year. PTI COR MAN KIS PRK RHL

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)