Mangaluru, July 25: Due to heavy showers, a small bridge has collapsed that connects Kulshekar to Saripalla outskirts of Mangaluru. This has caused great convenience to the people of the locality especially the students.
Over 2,000 people reside in this area. Currently the bus service has been stopped. People are facing a lot of trouble as they have to walk at least 3 to 4 km in the rains to come to the Kulshekar highway to board a bus.
One of the bus plying from State Bank to Saripalla has got stuck on the other side of the road. A temporary path has been created for bikes and cars to move. There are no other routes for the movement of heavy vehicles to reach Saripalla.
Speaking to the media, area corporator B Prakash said, due to heavy rains, both the slabs of the drainage collapsed on July 17th. A temporary path has been made for the movement of light vehicles. Already the slabs are ready but the heavy flow of water is delaying the installation work. Concrete will be laid on them after placing the slabs. We are trying to complete the work at the earliest.
Since a long time, the main connecting road from the Kulshekar to Saripalla has not been repaired. The road cannot be concreted because there is a railway tunnel underneath. There are huge potholes everywhere. Bus drivers say due to huge potholes everywhere, they find it difficult to drive.
Speaking about the road issue, corporator Prakash said, from 33 years, the road has remained in this same state. So far, the city corporation has not taken any initiatives. The road belongs to the Central Railway department. The railway department is not permitting us to concrete the road. Yearly, about 4 to 5 times JCBs are brought here and the mud road is levelled using additional mud. We do not have any other option. The locals also help in levelling the road.
Both MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and MLC Ivan D’Souza, knows about the issue and are trying to help us, he said.
