Another day and yet another government funded project comes crumbling down -- this time the retaining wall of the newly built NH 66 Highway in Pernem came crashing down on the road and it was a lucky escape for the occupants of a car that was passing by. The collapse of the retaining wall is the latest in the series of complaints facing the highway from Patradevi to Porvorim that has been dogged by poor workmanship, shoddy alignment and an uneven surface.
But most importantly the entire project that has been executed by MVR Infrastructure suffers from poor build quality which has resulted in the incident as seen at Malpe, Pernem. In truth, the landslide at Pernem has been a disaster in the making. Several locals as well as media platforms had pointed out the possibility of an impending collapse of the retaining wall and had sought to highlight the poor quality of work. Alas, nothing was done.
It isn’t even the first time the stretch of highway in Pernem collapsed. Not too long ago the retaining wall that was built along the banks of the River Tiracol that runs under the Konkan Railway bridge collapsed rendering two lanes of the highway unusable and requiring extensive repairs. Despite the scores of issues being highlighted concerning the highway, very little has been done by way of accountability. Neither has the contractor been brought to task, nor has an effort been made to repair or rectify portions of the road that have been badly built.
Instead, as a reward for having suffered years of non-existent roads as the work was being undertaken, the people of Pernem have now been rewarded with a poor quality finished product that risks not only the locals who have no option but to use the road but all the road users including those for whom this is the main road to enter Goa from the north.
A competent government would have -- at the very least -- demanded that the contractor rectify those portions of the road that are facing issues. While parts of the road are collapsing, other parts of the road are facing flooding, while some parts of the road are difficult for motorists to navigate because of the uneven angles that do not allow for a smooth drive.
The road that the same contractor built from Miramar to Dona Paula should have served as a warning. The road that was built way back in 2012 is perennially plagued by waterlogging caused by its uneven surface that does not allow the water to flow quickly into the drains but collects along the road and leaves several stretches of the road underwater for long periods of time. By contrast the road that was built between Verna and the Dabolim Airport (NH17B) that was built more than two decades ago allows for smooth driving even through the sharp curves, and does not face the sudden bumps, dips as one approaches bridges and flyovers nor does it have improperly banked turns or incorrect gradients -- given that it has been built keeping traffic dynamics in mind. It’s a similar story for the Panaji-Old Goa-Ribandar bypass that was rebuilt around a decade ago and made into a four-lane highway.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of the highways that have been built since then. Despite the Goa government and the Chief Minister’s regular boast about the amount of money the central government has spent on infrastructure in Goa, the quality of work belies such claims and makes it imperative that the government be judged not just on the amount they have spent on infrastructure but the quality of work so rendered as a result of it.
