In the month of July, Goa witnessed multiple landslides on the National Highway 66 and elsewhere, in the span of a week, as incessant rains continued for over a week! Out of these, 2 landslides were witnessed on the national highway 66, which is the Mumbai – Goa Highway. One at Dhargal and the other at Pernem.
The impact of landslides was such that even the retaining wall, made of concrete, collapsed on the highway, blocking the traffic. While the landslide at Dhargal blocked the traffic moving towards Mumbai, the Pernem landslide impacted in a much larger manner. It blocked both sides of the highway, forcing the administration to use an alternate road to commute, which is full of potholes and needs urgent repairs.
At the Pernem landslide site one can see boulders as big as 6 to 7 feet in height and several of them on the concrete highway. The Dhargal landslide site has been cleaned but the work on the retaining wall would need some time but the Pernem site would take months, as one portion of the adjacent hillock
has comedown on the road. Reports have confirmed that there would be some soil testing done before the repair work could resume and traffic to be commenced.
Even the chief minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant, had to take a note of this and visit the sites. It has been said that the CM visit was nothing but a stunt as this was done an evening before the arrival of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Gadkari had visited Goa to inaugurate the MOPA Link Road, for the use of which, a toll has been planned. On the other hand, the opposition is alleging (and so is the buzz) that “kids-glove treatment” is been given to the contractor MVR Infra, who is said to be a relative of a senior BJP minister.
The CM has assured transparent inquiry into this landslides and the quality of work. After his visit to the landslides sites he tweeted
Inspected the site on NH 66 which has witnessed landslides in the ongoing monsoon. I have directed to conduct a thorough inquiry through a reputed institution. We have also intimated the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highway to take necessary action in the matter. The Department will also direct the concerned contractor to restore and reconstruct the damaged portion at their own cost.”!
Leave a Reply