Bad Roads on NH 75 a nightmare for Motorists! Mayor Calls NHAI Officials for Meeting
Mangaluru: Imagine one of the busiest National Highway 75 (old # 48) between Mangaluru and Bengaluru getting traffic jammed near Padil Underpass and also near Karavali Junction due to the pathetic conditions of the road. Blaming National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the pathetic condition of the national highway stretch between Padil and Bhagwan Mahaveer Circle, and between Thokkottu and Nantoor junctions, Mayor Kavitha Sanil said NHAI officials will be called to the next meeting on traffic problems. Raising the issue during a meeting at the Mangaluru City Corporation Council hall, councilor Asha D’Silva had said the NHAI had removed two bus shelters several weeks ago near the Bhagwan Mahaveer Junction during the road widening work and is yet to restore them.
Without the bus shelters, drivers stop buses wherever they want and hinder traffic movement, she said. Agreeing with Ms. D’Silva, Ms. Sanil said the stretch of national highway between Karavali Junction and Padil and between Thokkottu and KPT junction has worsened. “It’s pathetic to see vehicles on both the highway and also the service road (between Bhagwan Mahaveer Junction and Ujjodi),” she said. A traffic police inspector pointed out that the flyover work at the Bhagwan Mahaveer Junction, which has been going on for a long time, has narrowed the road between Ujjodi and the junction. This stretch is a bottleneck, he said.
Traffic congestion near Padil Railway Bridge had resulted traffic backup for a long stretch on the highway- imagine an ambulance getting stuck in tanis traffic jam taking a patient to First Neuro Hospital-Padil/Kannur or Fr Muller’s Hospital- Thumbay or those ambulances transporting patients to various hospitals in Mangaluru. This stretch of road is dilapidated due to the construction work of the railway underpass nearby, and the work is still not completed even though it started two years ago. Motorists are having hard times to travel on this treacherous road. And with heavy rains lashing the area, it is much more worse now, with potholes filled muddy water- with passing heavy vehicles splashing this dirty water on the two-wheeler riders.
With such a pathetic condition of this NH road, it’s not just a nightmare for motorists but even for many others who frequently take this highway to reach their destination, either to their work place, school/colleges, market, shopping etc etc. They all spend their precious time stuck in this traffic mess, until they get on to the good two-lane road few meters away from the Railway bridge spot. It is learnt that the new railway underpass adjacent to this dilapidated road was suppose to be open in March 2017, but unfortunately due to certain issues remains incomplete. Until then, motorists and commuters have to bear the brunt of traffic jam.
Also speaking during the meeting, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) K. Tilakchandra had said with several potholes on the two stretches of national highway, the movement of vehicles has considerably slowed down. Despite several reminders, the NHAI has failed to fill potholes near Padil underpass, Karavali Junction, and near KPT Junction. “We are having a hard time in regulating smooth traffic flow,” Tilakchandra lamented.
Senior councillor M. Shashidhar Hegde said traffic jams occur frequently on the stretch of national highway between Bhagwan Mahaveer Junction and Kannur where the road widening work was going on at a snail’s pace. Hegde said he has brought the issue to the notice of Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP. Ms. Sanil said the NHAI officials will be called for the next meeting on traffic issues. They would have to work with civil authorities to allow smooth traffic flow, she said.
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