WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2024
Team Herald
PONDA: A 100-meter-long newly constructed retaining wall of the Bethora-Borim bypass collapsed Monday morning as incessant rains battered the state. Traffic along the route had to be diverted as the situation turned chaotic.
No untoward incidents have however been reported even as heavy vehicles are often parked by the roadside. The labourers working at the venue were fortunately safe and sound.
On hearing about the incident, irate locals rushed to the site and alleged that substandard work done by the contractors had been exposed. They demanded that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant call for a vigilance inquiry into the entire four kilometer NH four-lane expansion work as they feared that the remaining portion of the retaining wall along the road would also meet with a similar fate with the taxpayer’s money going down the drain.
Currently, the work on the four-lane road widening Bethora-Borim bypass NH project is going on a war footing and massive landfilling has been done.
The debris and rubble were then washed away in the nullah with the heavy flow of rainwater with a local farmer, Mahesh Panshikar claiming that his entire kulagar was destroyed and trees were uprooted and washed away with the furious flow.
Following the issue, NH officials inspected the site while the traffic police installed diversion sign boards for the safety of commuters.
On Sunday, another portion of a concrete retaining wall also collapsed in the vicinity with the heavy showers
Meanwhile, a local resident Sandeep Parkar demanded a vigilance probe into the fiasco and alleged that the work carried out was sub-standard in nature.
“The four-lane widening was done by mud filling. However, instead of allowing the mud to settle, the road was tarred in a tearing hurry as a result it developed cracks. The steel rods embedded in concrete for the purpose of construction were not of proper thickness and the contractor needs to be booked by the police,” said Parkar adding that till date, the NH widening has claimed around seven lives.
Another farmer Mahesh Panashikar lamented that the natural water outlets were blocked due to road widening.
The situation went from bad to worse the area was dug to lay underground gas lines and power cables.
