Jayasurya lauds state govt after dampening PWD event with 'Cherrapunji' comment

Thiruvananthapuram: Actor Jayasurya who mocked the state for claiming rains were the reason for bad roads, later lauded the government's effort to bring accountability to the renovation works.

In a Facebook post, the award-winning actor said leaving contact details of the contractors by the roadside was a commendable thing, which was the "sign of good governance".

The PWD has decided to place boards stating the 'defect liability period' and the contact number of the contractors at both ends of a freshly-laid road.

"The contractors will be wholly responsible for whatever happens to the roads hereafter. Moreover, the public can do the audit," wrote Jayasurya, before crediting Minister for PWD, PA Muhammad Riyas for being "a minister who listens to our voice and values it".

The social media clarification came after he had put the state on the backfoot by criticising the condition of roads while being the guest of the government at a PWD function.

CPM MLA V K Prasanth claiming that frequent rains were the reason for the dilapidated condition of the roads in the state had provoked the actor, who retorted "if that was the case, Cherrapunji will have no roads".

The inference to the place in Meghalaya, which used to be regarded as the wettest place on Earth, prompted a response from minister Riyas, who had invited the actor for the programme.

"Cherrapunji only has 10,000 km of roads, Kerala has 3 lakh km," the minister said.

“Rains are indeed a problem and it is difficult do works during heavy rains,” added Riyas before saying that the actor had criticised the government only for a moment in his 10-minute speech.