Team Herald
VASCO: In a first of its kind, the contractor, who had undertaken the work of hot mixing the roads in Vasco, has been served with an ultimatum of 15 days to fix the roads which were washed away in the rains during the last few days. The contractor has been threatened with withholding payments if the roads are not restored.
Taking cognizance that despite being carpeted with a layer of hot mix the roads have developed potholes, Vasco MLA Krishna `Daji’ Salkar, pulled up the contractor and asked him to immediately repair the damaged road.
Salkar along with PWD engineers and the road contractor carried out a joint inspection of the 3-km long road which developed potholes. He warned that the contractor would be taken to task if the potholes are not filled with asphalt and that contractor’s bill will not be cleared.
Salkar said, “A stretch of about 20 metres has been damaged and developed potholes, which is causing inconvenience and hardships to motorists and endangering their lives.”
He further said that he has already brought the incident to the notice of PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral and that he will not tolerate such shoddy works. “The Minister has assured me that he would look into the matter,” he added.
Salkar said that the roads were supposed to get another coat of bitumen but it was stopped due to the monsoon. He said, “I am also using the road which has developed potholes and I can feel the difficulty of the road users, especially motorists.”
He opined that the road might have developed cracks and potholes due to one load of bitumen having a low temperature and being exposed to heavy rains.
Apologising to the citizens of Vasco, Salkar assured them that the damaged portion of the road will be repaired by laying a fresh coat of bitumen once the rains subside.
