Mangaluru: Want to practice for a monsoon rally or dirt track race? If you do, the National Highway stretch from Surathkal to BC Road in Mangaluru could be the right place to go to. Thanks to the negligence of the authorities, the road has developed huge craters, with some big enough to resemble a swimming pool.
Worse, the people do not get this bumpy ride for free, but need to pay a toll in Surathkal and on BC Road to 'enjoy' it! Despite paying up they are often held up in traffic for a few hours in places like Nanthoor and Padil owing to the bad road. Ambulances trying to rush patients to hospitals find the experience harder than most. Efforts by the traffic police to ease conditions on the road are met with little success as the bad condition of the road forces vehicles to move at a snail’s pace.
The highway authorities, who are responsible for the road repair, are usually seen dumping some stones into the potholes to fill them, but they get washed away within a day or two.
It was in 2004 that the 35 km long Surathkal- B C Road stretch was taken up for widening and although it has not been satisfactorily completed yet, the toll collection has begun, leaving the people both angry and helpless.
"Despite the condition of the road our elected representatives are silent. The only solution is for the people to raise their voice," said Nagarika Hitharakshana Vedike, president Hanumanth Kamath.
National Highway Authority of India project director, Samson Vijaykumar, when contacted, said the road would be repaired once the rain stopped. "We are taking some temporary measures," he added.
