Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jun 7: On account of unscientific execution of national highway widening work, Ottinene hillock lining the national highway No 66 that has been dug up all around slumped and got deposited on the national highway 66.

Apparently, the negligence of IRB company which has been entrusted with the work of widening the highway, has caused this accident. Luckily, no loss of life was reported.

After the hillock crashed on to the highway at 11 pm on Tuesday June 6, the road connectivity to areas falling on the other side of the area including far flung ones, has been thrown out of gear.

During the work, the base of the hillock had been dug, resulting in the hillock slumping. As the hillock had come down by about 20 feet, even people travelling by the road were apprehensive about facing danger from this precariously positioned hillock. The fact that the base of the hillock is made of soft clay with top soil being hard, always posed danger for the hillock. The company aggravated the situation by removing soil from the base of the hillock in an unscientific manner. This hillock, people were afraid, would come crashing down during last monsoon. With the advent of rainfall this year, this fear had resurfaced. On Tuesday night, the hillock slipped from its position and fell on the highway.

As vehicular traffic was sparse when the hillock fell at night, it did not inflict any loss to life and property. If the accident had happened during the day, the damage would have been immense. JCBs have been striving hard to remove mud from the road and clear the highway for traffic. As there are no alternative roads to this, long lines of vehicles have been formed on both the sides.

The bottom of this hillock was dug and mud was transported to low lying areas for road widening work. The people had warned during the digging that the hillock might come crashing down but those who were undertaking the task did not take this warning seriously. They did not even resort to providing revetment against collapse of mud or providing concrete barricades as a precautionary measure. The people are angry that even the engineers took the matter lightly, resulting in undue problems for the highway users.

At the beginning of rainy season, accidents have begun to occur. There have been allegations that negligent execution of road work has been observed elsewhere too. The district administration needs to intervene and take strong steps to ensure that safety of people is given prime importance and the highway builders do everything scientifically as otherwise the lives of highway users will be at risk.