Mudigere, June 16: As the tyre of a KSRTC bus tyre got stuck in a drain, late night on Sunday, June 14th; the traffic was blocked on the Charmadi Ghat stretch for over 10 hours.
The bus while moving towards Bengaluru from Mangaluru got stuck in the curve of the ghat section from 11 pm on Sunday till 9 am on Monday, June 15th.
The road had remained blocked until the police arranged the movement of light vehicles on one side at around 6 am. Finally the bus was lifted at 9 am, a passenger stranded in the bus, told the media.
It was high time for the passengers who board the bus from Dharmasthala and Mangaluru and spent the entire night on the road in remote place.
Though the road was blocked throughout the night, the police did not arrive on time. This worsened the situation, said passengers.
Unaware of the traffic block, many vehicles continued to choose the road and the traffic density increased by the early morning.
Only in the morning, the KSRTC stopped all buses towards Mangaluru at Kottigehara. The check post gate was closed to prevent the entry of vehicles into the ghat section.
Shiradi Ghat stretch will reopen on August 1st: NHAI
Shiradi Ghat road, which connects Bengaluru with Mangaluru on National Highway 48, will be reopened on August 1st, according to officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
A part of NH 48 (Bengaluru-Mangaluru National Highway) has been closed for traffic for the last six months for upgrade of a 13-km stretch that passes through Shiradi Ghat.
On Monday, June 15th; various organisations staged a massive protest rally in Sakleshpur, forcing the NHAI to assure that the road would be opened for traffic on August 1st.
Protesters blocked the highway for over two hours. They demanded that deputy commissioners of Hassan and Dakshina Kannada, the NHAI chief engineer, the contractor and other engineers arrive on the spot and answer their queries. They also raised slogans against the authorities concerned and aslo the contractor.
NHAI engineer, Raghavan, arrived at the spot and explained that as the Shiradi highway was narrow, it was impossible to take up the work with traffic moving on. Regarding the delay, he said the work had to be halted due to continuous rainfall for 20 days in April. But the work is progressing on briskly and is almost complete. Asphalting would get over in the next 13 days provided there is no rainfall, he assured.
NHAI Chief Engineer, C Mruthyunjaya Swamy, explained that it was not possible to open the road for traffic immediately before the completing the work. The concretisation work of 9.5 kms is complete and the road will be opened for traffic from August 1st onwards, he assured.
On this occasion, Sakleshpur Tahsildar Nagesh , NHAI assistant engineers Jayaram and Nataraj, were present.
