Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (EP)
Kundapur, Aug 15: "Highway repairs and maintenance work were done on NH 66 last year utilizing Rs 1.44 crore released by the government. However, the quality of the work is so inferior that pieces of the road have come off in the first showers creating more potholes than ever found here before," said Sadananda Sheregar, chief secretary, BJP, Byndoor region.
Sheregar was addressing a protest on Arate Bridge on Thursday August 14, decrying the inferior quality work on NH 66. The protest was led by Byndoor BJP and Yuva Morcha.
He demanded that the contractor who is responsible for the inferior work which has disrupted the traffic system on NH 66, the only interstate link of communication in the state, be blacklisted and action be initiated against him as per law.
Former standing committee president Kukanadu Chandrashekar Shetty said that the problem has been occurring every year during monsoons for the last several years and the concerned department as well as elected representatives have failed to take effective action. "If the situation continues, the main bridges on the highways may collapse into the river," he said.
The protesters proceeded via Arate Bridge and planted a banana sapling in the middle of the bridge and protested. They put a few coins in the highway potholes and warned they would collect money for the repair of the highway.
The protesters then slept on the road urging the deputy heads of the department to arrive at the scene and receive their appeal, warning that the protest will not stop until they arrived. The circle inspector who saw the protest turning serious, tried to pacify them. The protesters allowed the vehicles to move after the police official assured that he would bring the matter to the notice of the government officials concerned and that revenue officials will arrive there soon.
Kundapur tahsildar who arrived there later accepted the written appeal of the protesters and assured them that the report will be sent to the government for further action. Traffic came to a standstill from Trasi to Tallur for an hour due to the protest.
Former president of Raitha Sangha and state BJP Raitha Sangha vice-president Deepak Kumar Shetty led the protest.