On Friday, a Bombay High Court bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni directed the state government to build service roads and barriers along the Mumbai-Goa highway to protect residents of villages along the route.
According to the court, there is a risk of speeding vehicles mowing down villagers crossing the road. The HC even stated that the ongoing highway road widening project has made little progress.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Owais Pechkar, who emphasised the dangers of potholes and the ongoing road-widening project on the Mumbai-Goa highway.
When the matter was called out on Friday, Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, the state advocate general, submitted an affidavit detailing the status of the road-widening work along the entire stretch.
After reviewing the status of the highway project, the bench stated, The progress is dismal. There hasn't been much progress since April. In fact, at times, there was only 1% progress.
Kumbhakoni attempted to persuade the bench by claiming that the authorities were unable to find labourers due to the ongoing pandemic.
Notably, the road-widening work has been divided among several contractors, each of whom has been assigned a section of the stretch.
The judges noted that some of the contractors who were given the orders in 2018 have completed up to 90%, if not more, of their work. However, a few contractors who received the orders in 2017 have only completed about 60% of the work.
The bench also questioned Kumbhakoni about why potholes continued to appear despite the ongoing repairs. According to Kumbhakoni, the original road was made of tar, but it is now being concreted.
Meanwhile, Pechkar informed the judges that 2,442 people have died on the highway since 2010. The judges, on the other hand, stated that they would consider the matter on the next hearing date. Pechkar also requested that authorities issue urgent directives to fill potholes, as the majority of citizens will be travelling to their hometowns in Konkan for the upcoming Ganeshotsav festival.
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