Newsroom24x7 Network

New Delhi: Former Union Minister and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party MP Prahlad Singh Patel has raised a serious question by pointing out that contrary to the tender specifications, soapstone marble, which is a very soft stone, was being used for laying the base of a National Highway between Jabalpur and Katni in Madhya Pradesh.

A big company has bagged the contract for building this road.

The BJP MP raised this issue in Parliament last week (19 July 2018). Patel told the House that in Madhya Pradesh, whenever a tender is floated, all parties that bag the tender project that they are using Narmada sand and black stone for building roads.

Patel further told the house that geographically the Jabalpur – Katni area falls on the soapstone block and it is identified with huge deposits of soapstone marble. The local soapstone cutting industry produces large amounts of solid waste. Once, while travelling from Jabalpur to Katni, it was noticed by him that soapstone marble waste was getting diverted for laying the base of a National Highway under construction.

He also pointed out that despite a ban on the use of Narmada sand in Madhya Pradesh, on paper, it is continuously shown that the banned material was being used in road construction