Won’t allow Konkan coastal road if Mumbai to Goa highway work not completed: HC

The Bombay high court (HC) has stated that it would not allow the Maharashtra government to take up new projects like the coastal road through the three districts of Konkan if the state does not ensure that the road-widening project of the Mumbai-Goa National Highway is not completed.

The Bombay high court (HC) has stated that it would not allow the Maharashtra government to take up new projects like the coastal road through the three districts of Konkan if the state does not ensure that the road-widening project of the Mumbai-Goa National Highway is completed.

The court also suggested that the state government should consider a diversion or an alternate route to NH-66 to ensure that the contractors are able to complete the road-widening work expeditiously. (FILE)

HC also took note of complaints of potholes on public roads and highways and asked the government to consider a state-wide policy with concrete measures to deal with the recurring issue to avoid accidents and traffic jams which inconvenience common citizens.

The court also suggested that the state government should consider a diversion or an alternate route to NH-66 to ensure that the contractors are able to complete the road-widening work expeditiously.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing the public interest litigation filed by Chiplun resident and advocate Owais Pechkar, was informed that the road-widening project which had started in 2010 has been delayed inordinately, as a result of which, regular commuters have been greatly inconvenienced.

He further submitted that while the widening work on some parts of the highway had been completed, the incomplete portions were leading to numerous accidents and deaths. Pechkar referred to the accident statistics which showed that there had been more than 2,400 deaths on the highway since the road-widening work had started.

Pointng to the incomplete portions of the highway, Pechkar informed the bench that work on a stretch of 40 kilometres (km), which was allotted to the contractor in 2017 and was to be completed by December 2022 was yet to commence, while another stretch of 27.5km allotted to another contractor in 2018 had seen completion of only 12km.

He added that the problem of commuters was further aggravated by potholes that have turned the national highway into a ‘no highway’. Hence, it was necessary for the court to issue directions to the authorities to ensure that the road-widening work was completed expeditiously and the pothole problem was addressed too, Pechkar argued.

After hearing the submissions, the bench asked the state government why the portions remain incomplete after even a decade since the commencement of the project.

“Unless you complete this project, we will hold you to not take up any other project, let the public reap the benefits of this project (sic),” observed the bench, when the petitioner informed that the state was intending to spend nearly ₹70,000 crore for the coastal road through three districts of Konkan.

On the incomplete portions of the highway, the court asked the government to terminate the defaulting contractor and also sought to know the number of accidents and deaths that have taken place on them.

The court then observed that the issue of potholes was a recurring one and asked the state government why it was not thinking of any concrete policy for potholes as every year they are found at the same place.

“Your officers had given a good solution about cold mix. Why is this kind of technology not used? That will be helpful for all roads in corporation areas, highways. These are issues touching common man and we want these issues to be focussed (sic),” said HC.

Advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, thereafter, assured the bench that work on road widening would pick up after the monsoon receded and contractors who have not completed their portion would be held liable for potholes. He added that the state government had already floated fresh tenders for certain incomplete sections and work would be completed as soon as possible.