KOTTAYAM: The District Collector Mini Antony has convened a meeting to discuss the future course of action regarding the building of the protection wall near Thazhathangadi at the Kottayam- Kumarakom road on Saturday.The expert team which had conducted a study on the collapsing of the wall had recently submitted its report to the collector.An error committed by the contractor during the construction process at a 250 to 300 metre stretch had caused heavy losses for the government.The concept of rebuilding it was mooted after a bus plunged into the river by the road, claiming 11 lives a few months ago.Since the commencement of the work, major fissures had appeared on the road, inviting widespread criticism, said a councillor in the area.This paper had reported that the contractors were using coconut trees as substitutes for concrete piles in the area to build the protection wall.Despite all this, the major irrigation department had gone ahead with the decision to build it without studying the soil conditions in the area.Now, a study by an expert committee has found that instead of laying the foundation at a depth of 29 metres at one end and 34.5 metres at the other, it was done at nine to 10 metres.Building the foundation for a new protection wall is expected to cost over ` 25 lakh, said the councillor.Moreover, the government would have to re-tender the work again which is time-consuming.Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan had the other day admitted that the technical stipulations were not followed during the foundation-laying for the wall, and had blamed the LDF for it.Ironically, the present government did nothing to conduct a study of the soil condition of the area, as the fissure had appeared a couple of months ago.It was only the other day that the collapsing of the wall forced the government to examine it.
Comments
0 comment