the goan I network
PANAJI
With the government mulling repairing the potholes on National Highway 17 before the monsoons hit Goa, the Congress has demanded that the government allot the work to the same contractors who are currently doing the highway, i.e.M Venkata Rao (MVR) Infra Project Private Limited.
Addressing the press at the Congress headquarters on Thursday, Congress spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said that there was no reason for the government to draw up a new tender and waste taxpayer money by giving the contract for pothole repair work to a new contractor.
“PWD Minister himself has talked about repairing potholes before the monsoons, and he should ensure the same contractors are given the task,” said Panjikar.
Meanwhile the party slammed MVR Infra for the lack of safety measures, planning, or preparation while undertaking the ongoing NH17 project. “The highway is being expanded for which land should have been acquired to complete the project long back. But not even 50% of the required land has been acquired,” Panjikar claimed.
He further stressed on how disorganised the contractors were saying that when mud and rubble is required, no one has thought about from where they’re going to get it, and alleged that the contractors resort to stealing. “This is all happening under the watch of the BJP government,”
he said.
Slamming MVR Infra, Panjikar said, “MVR has been given the highway contract despite the fact that it hasn’t completed any of the
previous works given to it systematically.”
He further said that the contractor is so disorganised that the concrete laying machine has been missing for the past month. When the engineer was asked, he apparently said that it had been taken for some other work. “Who’s keeping track of the proportions of material being mixed? They don’t even have a small office or control room where the public can take their grievances or give suggestions or ask queries,” alleged Panjikar.
