Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, Jun 9: The Ottinele hillock cave-in, which was in the making since about a year, was caused not only because of the negligence of IRB company which has been awarded the contract for widening of the highway, but also of the engineers of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) who conducted spot inspection and formulated a design to save the hillock from crashing to the ground, which was plainly faulty.
IRB company, which has been widening the work near Ottinene, had flattened Ottinene hillock and built the road like a valley between two hillocks. As the base of the hillock is made of clay, it tended to loosen as soon as it came in contact with water. IRB company sought help from IISc to address this problem. It is said that the IISc engineers, who conducted spot inspection and tested the soil, drew up a design to stop the crash from happening. It is said that IRB followed this design to protect hillocks from crashing.
It is said that IISc engineers just advised the company to protect the fall of the hillocks by providing support by way of iron rods for a height of ten feet from the base. The other advice was to see that water flows backside of the hillock and not towards the road. IRB was also advised to build three minor canals to ensure that rainwater flows down by the side of the road and not onto the road.
In addition to the above, the district administration too had taken some precautionary measures. Assistant commissioner of the taluk, Shilpa Nag, during her visit to the spot before the monsoon season began, had held discussions with the engineer and IRB officials. She also had given certain suggestions after checking the situation about steps to be taken to divert traffic in case the hillock slips down. In spite of this, traffic was blocked by the collapsed hillock. Luckily, there were no casualties or heavy losses to vehicles.
Byndoor special tahsildar, Kiran Doraiah, filed a police complaint in Byndoor station. Accordingly, a complaint naming project officer of national highway department, project manager of IRB, Yogendra, chief general manager, project head, and chief engineer, for conducting work recklessly has been registered.
The district administration has taken serious note of this incident. This incident has also sounded warning of more serious things which might happen if proper steps are not taken. The district administration has strictly told IRB company to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Assistant commissioner from here, Shilpa Nag, visited the spot, and gave clear instruction to officers. She told them that an engineer and four JCBs should be stationed at the spot to dispose off mud all 24 hours of the day. The company has been directed to provide proper lighting in the region to be able to get advance signal about slipping mud blocks. The officials have been told to clear mud from all places wherever there is apprehension of hillock caving in.
In spite of these measures,if the traffic on the road turns haywire, two alternative roads have been identified. If such incident happens in future, vehicles coming in towards the town from the direction of Bhatkal should move via Dombe. People moving towards Bhatkal from here can take railway crossing road at Byndoor and use the road which joins highway near Green Valley School at Shirur. This road has several potholes, and the officials have been asked to repair them within a week so that traffic can be routed through that road in case of emergency.
Shilpa also has told the company to summon a team of experts, submit a report on how can such caving in be avoided in future, and implement the plan properly. "IRB company is totally responsible for the road widening work. Technologically the company has total responsibility. Whether it is the failure of engineers executing the work or that of IISc, it is the duty of IRB company to take effective measures. They should have taken measures after witnessing that soil was coming loose due to pre-monsoon rain. Therefore, police complaint has been filed in Byndoor against the concerned. Proper directions have been issued to the concerned to take care to ensure that such incidents do not happen again," Shilpa Nag stated.