Occupants in a car reportedly had a narrow escape when a portion of a protection wall came crashing down and large boulders came tumbling down on NH66 at Malpem in Pernem on Saturday. Locals have reportedly accused the highway contractors of sub-standard work. The monsoon has just commenced and the state is already witnessing landslides which have been attributed to hill-cutting being undertaken in order to broaden the roads. A protection wall cannot give adequate protection if huge boulders come tumbling down thereby putting the lives of citizens in danger. According to the locals the height of the wall is 35 metres while the width is not even one metre which is not sufficient to stop boulders from crashing down on the roads. Since the work of the highway expansion has been taken up, incidents of landslides have been reported in Pernem every monsoon with mud and boulders crashing down on the road. Hill-cutting if necessary needs to be carried out in a scientific manner. Otherwise it can lead to soil erosion and destabilization of land and the protection walls may not be able to withstand the fury of a landslide. Protection walls need to be of sufficient width and strength.
