Mangalore, Jul 3: Several woes of citizens came to the fore as Mangalore City South MLA J R Lobo visited several suburbs of the city along National Highway 17 on Wednesday, along with officials belonging to National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
Locals living around Maroli on the NH 17 vented their grievances when Mr Lobo visited the spot for an inspection.
They complained that the tar service road running parallel to the national highway leading to areas such as Jayanagar, Ramnagar, Vasantnagar, Holy Hill, Kandapadak and Adu Maroli upto Suryanarayana temple was wrecked after the work on the widening of the highway began two years ago.
“There are close to 2,000 homes in these areas and a narrow road is the only way to reach all the houses. About 8.5 acres of land was acquired by the governing body for the widening of the highway, but we do not have a proper road to traverse. It has been two years now since we have been facing this difficulty,” residents told the MLA.
Further in Tharethota, another service road had been completely blocked since two months due to the works on the highway and residents were irked by it. “There are about 30-40 houses in this road, and there was no way that a vehicle could have access to any house in case of emergencies,” said Jaya Nayak, an elderly resident of Tharethota.
Another resident Keshav Kadri told mediapersons that the problem of road blockage started after the work on the highway began. “It is only now that the authorities have taken notice and are willing to remove the blockage. Why did they block it in the first place? In spite of the blockage, no work has been done on the highway,” he grieved.
In response, Mr Lobo assured the residents that a service road would be made in the area so that they did not face any inconvenience. “The NHAI has agreed to respond to the problems and would rush the work on the highway, once the monsoons are over,” he said.
Traffic woes at Nanthoor junction
Detailing the plans for a flyover at Nanthoor junction, MCC chief Mangalore City Corporation chief consultant Dharmaraj said that the entire bus traffic entered the city through Pumpwell or Nanthoor junction.
To ease the congestion of traffic on the NH 17, he suggested that an underpass of 45 metres should be constructed at Nanthoor for the heavy traffic on the highway to pass through without causing traffic blocks.
Mr Lobo said that the decision on the under-pass (subway) would be taken after judging the feasibility of the project.
NHAI project director Shri Ram Mishra said that the construction works would be taken up along the highway at Nanthoor and that the NH 17 from Nanthoor junction towards Talapady will be widened to 60 metres and towards Udupi to 45 metres, he said.
He also said that the works on the Bikarnakatte-Maroli flyover had almost been completed, and the flyover would be open for use in August once the asphalting was done.
Corporators Naveen D'Souza, Praveen Chandra Alva, Asha D'Silva, Keshav and K Taranath Shetty were present.
Flyovers and under-passes
Detailing the plans of the flyover at Kottara, Mr Mishra said that the width of the service road along the flyover would be increased from 4 metres to 5.5 metres. The median of the stretch at the junction leading from Ladyhill will be increased so that it would not form a bottleneck. A total of 34 bus shelters will also be set-up along the highway between B C Road and Suratkal, he said.
He said that the parallel bridge along the flyover at B C Road would be completed within a period of 18 months.
He also said that the newly-built Nethravathi Bridge would be ready for use by September.
“Work on the railway over-bridges at Baikampady and B C Road and on the railway under-bridge at Padil is under way, and will be completed within a year,” he told mediapersons.
New culverts for storm-water drain
Inspecting the open storm-water drain at Pumpwell, Mr Lobo said that there was no proper provision for storm-water in the area. He said that using box culverts for the storm-water drain at Pumpwell would be beneficial and instructed the concerned officials to implement the same.
He said that the revised design for the flyover at Pumpwell was ready and work would begin soon by the NHAI.
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