Highway collapse: Kerala HC asks NHAI for report, Congress slams Vijayan govt

Thiruvananthapuram, May 23 The Kerala High Court on Friday asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to submit an interim report on the collapse of the under-construction NH 66 at multiple places.

After hearing a different petition about the condition of roads in the state, the court then shifted its attention to the widespread media reports about the collapse of the NH 66.

It directed the NHAI to submit its detailed interim report covering all aspects on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan contended that there was no coordination between the Pinarayi Vijayan government and the NHAI and the end result was the news that has surfaced from Monday, when the under-construction NH 66 collapsed at multiple places, sending shock waves across the state.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Thursday took action against the Hyderabad-based construction company, KNR Constructions, and project consultants, the Highway Engineering Company, by banning them and suspending two top officials.

Satheesan said the Union Minister Suresh Gopi has pointed out that there has been an alteration made to the DPR of this project .

"I believe what he has said is with full responsibility, and hence, there should be a probe done based on this statement. No one seems to have taken this seriously. There has been no coordination between the Vijayan government and the NHAI," the Congress leader said.

"We had alerted the authorities that the pillars which has collapsed are in areas where no soil test was conducted, and we had brought this to the attention of the authorities concerned, but it fell on deaf ears. State PWD Minister P.A.Mohammed Riyas is only interested in taking reels and posting them on social media for publicity," he alleged.

Kasargod Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan said till the news of the collapse came, the Vijayan government and the Left was going around telling about that if not for them, this project would not have taken off.

"After the news of the collapse came, everyone of them washed their hands off. On quite a few occasions, I myself had raised apprehensions about the quality of the work after the local people brought it to my attention. I alerted a few officials, but nothing happened," he said.

By now, both Vijayan and Riyas, who is also his son-in-law, have said there is no role for the state government in what has happened and the entire responsibility rests with the NHAI.

"The NHAI have to rectify the errors. The state government will not do anything to stop the work. We ensured the land was acquired and handed over, and we did that. But the Congress is trying to celebrate what has happened. They are a stumbling block preventing the growth of the state, and hence, they will continue to sit in the opposition. I will continue to post reels as we will bring to the attention what our government has done," Riyas said.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has sought a detailed report from each of the places where cracks surfaced and is expected to hold a special meeting to discuss this issue.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor