CANACONA
Incessant rains in Canacona since Sunday have damaged the roadside rubble soling and have led to huge potholes and cracks to the roadside tar on the highway barely metres from the Polem border check post, raising questions about the quality of work undertaken in May.
According to sources, a 27.8 km stretch of the NH66 from Polem to Char-Rasta via Poinguinim (old highway route) was taken up for road widening, repair and hot-mix at a cost of Rs 12.6 crore and it was only partially completed.
“While the project was inaugurated by PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar in mid-March, the hot-mix, repair and widening of this 27.8 km stretch was abandoned almost immediately following a breakdown of the machinery and work resumed only by mid-May.”
“The road widening with rubble soling, repair and a partial hotmixing of this stretch road was completed, when this work came to a grinding halt yet again after pre-monsoon rains began to lash the taluka. The project is likely to resume after the monsoon.”
When contacted, locals questioned the quality of work, after rains since Sunday led to the damage of the roadside rubble soling, huge roadside potholes and cracks to the roadside tar on the highway near the Polem check post.
“The situation is no different along other parts of the NH66 section which was recently taken up for road-widening,” complained a resident.
Many have demanded that the contractor be taken to task and asked to repair the damaged portions of the stretch of highway.
