Mumbai, July 26: With frequent incidents of rockfalls or landslides been reported at the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in recent past, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation(MSRDC) is planning to take three officials to Switzerland on a study tour. According to a news report in DNA, the MSRDC officials believe that it will help them learn different techniques on how to mitigate these mishaps. The officials told the daily that since Switzerland is a country with the most mountains, rockfall mitigation measures are frequently practised there. Besides this, Switzerland manufactures bolts, nets and other tools required to avert landslides. Hence, the visit will be beneficial for learning, added the officials.

The three officials slated to visit the country include joint managing director, chief engineer and superintendent engineer of MSRDC who are likely to stay there from August 5 up till August 11, 2018. However, the MSRDC, which is already under financial burden, received a lot of flak for sending their officials for a study tour. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik criticised the study tour. He was quoted as saying, "The physical presence is not necessary, it can be done virtually. The Switzerland tour is like a trip in the name of the study tour."

Speaking on the allegations made by the politician, Radheshyam Mopalwar, managing director, MSRDC, said, "We are not spending on the study tour. It is part of the contract that was awarded to the contractor." MSRDC has appointed a contractor to install nets and to adopt other precautionary measures to avert rock falling mishap on the highway, and therefore, the study tour is part of the contract is what the officer has mentioned above.

The MSRDC is owned by the state government, which looks after the important state highways, including Mumbai-Pune Express Highway. The government body is currently under a debt of Rs 3,500 crore. The state highway governing body adopted Italian and Swiss technology to curb landslides on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway as a precautionary measure before the onset of the monsoon. The technique involves removing loose boulders and scaling the outer layer of the hill. It also includes creating a drainage system on the top of the hillocks for quick removal of water. Installing the nets will stop the rocks from falling on the highway and can getting stuck in the nets. This method has already been put to use on the ghats, which includes Adoshi, Amrutanjan and Khandala.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 12:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).