UP makes news with a crocodile near CM house, leaking roof

Lucknow: Monday was a day for “news with a difference” in Uttar Pradesh. A crocodile was sighted in a canal near chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s house on Monday while UP health minister Siddhartha Nath Singh tweeted a video of his official bungalow in which the roof was leaking.

Some people strolling along the Haider canal near the chief minister’s residence on Monday morning saw a crocodile sleeping on the side of the canal. The men made a video, and the crocodile, seeing activity around, quietly slipped back into the water.

As the video went viral on social media, the forest department officials swung into action and reached the spot but the crocodile was nowhere to be seen. Forest officials have put up wire mesh at several points along the canal that runs between the chief minister’s residence and the director general of police’s office but the crocodile remained elusive.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh minister Siddhartha Nath Singh created a furore when he tweeted a video of the leaking roof of his officials bungalow at 19 Gautam Palli.

The minister wrote “pathetic condition of a minister’s bungalow and we have to still depend on government agencies. Time to look beyond them and bring competition/quality.”

The minister’s tweet drew a massive response from people who termed it as a reflection of the government’s performance. The minister later clarified that he was indicting the previous government when he tweeted.

All ministerial bungalows were renovated before being allotted to ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government.