PERNEM: A major landslide occurred on either sides of the national highway 66 causing collapse of the protection walls at Naibag-Poroscodem.
This is the third time that the landslide occurred and the protection walls collapsed within few weeks, due to heavy rain. The walls had collapsed for the second time on Monday, due to a landslide at Naibag and Dhargalim. On Tuesday, traffic was again diverted till the road was cleared of mud. Fortunately, no one was injured in any of these three mishaps.
The opposition Congress Party has demanded immediate arrest and blacklisting of the contractor of National Highway 66 for his alleged complete negligence and failure to take safety and security measures as well as doing substandard work from Patradevi to Bambolim.
Congress delegation comprising Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao and others visited the landslide site at Naibag and at Dhargalim in Pernem taluka.
Patkar said that the Congress party is consistently raising the issue of the bad quality of works done by the contractor M/s MVR Infra Projects Private Limited. The negligence of this contractor had resulted in deaths of innocent people.
Yuri charged that the BJP government was not taking any action against the contractor because he was related to a BJP leader. All the projects carried out by the said contractor had turned out to be of substandard quality. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant must immediately act against the contractor, he demanded.
The delegation alleged that the contractor was doing work without following norms and guidelines which are required to be followed while undertaking the government works. They demanded an audit of all the projects undertaken by the contractor.
Congress will further escalate the issue by meeting the Chief Secretary and other government officials and may also explore the legal options if the government fails to act even after so many tragedies.
Meanwhile, the traffic movement started after clearing of landslide at Dhargalim.
