Belle-Manipura Road Widening: Executive Engineer of PWD Responds favourably

By Benedict Noronha, Advocate, Udupi
Bellevision Media Network

Udupi, 04 June 2011: ‘Merit is to be appreciated so say seniors and seasoned management experts’. Similarly, prompt response to certain queries is to be lauded. Hence, I personally take this opportunity to appreciate and place on record the prompt action taken by Mr. Suresh Shetty, the Executive Engineer, Public Works Department (PWD) No.1 Division, Udupi, who responded favourably and promptly  in completing the widening Belle-Manipura Road.

 

Sometime back, when I was driving to Moodubelle through Manipura-Belle Road ( State High Way No. 38), I could see the road widening activity that was in progress since September 2010. On either side of the road about 4 feet widening was done with great enthusiasm. After the initial work of road widening and spreading ‘jalli’ and pressing it with road rollers, the Panchayath elections put some break to the ongoing road widening work.

 

My visit to Moodubelle and then to Pamboor my home place was regular - almost once every week. During these trips, I was keenly observing the type of work that was going on in relation to the widening of the Belle- Manipura section of the Udupi- Karkala Road through Moodubelle.

 

After the  Taluk and Zilla Panchayath election results were declared in February 2011, I was perturbed to see the half done work of road widening  was stopped  though the road widening issue was one of the important promises and points of achievements that was projected before  the voters.

 

 

As the work of road widening was moving at snails speed and the quality of the work was very poor, I wrote a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of the  Udupi Zilla Panchayat on April 3, 2011 and also spoke over telephone to Mr Devdas Hebbar, President of  the Udupi Taluk Panchayatt. Mr. Devdas Hebbar assured me that the road widening work will continue and it is planned to be completed before onset of the rains.

 

As the monsoon was set to arrive by the first week of June, I was quite doubtful about completion of the work. In his reply to my letter, the CEO of the Udupi Zilla Panchayath pointed out that the road widening project was handled by the PWD.

 

Meanwhile, I had an opportunity to meet and discuss the issue of Manipura-Belle road widening project with the Executive Engineer of the PWD,  Mr. Suresh Shetty. Following my discussions with Mr. Suresh Shetty and pressing the need to complete the project, he prevailed upon the contractor in spite of his pending bills to push forward the remaining work. As the work was in progress, I pointed out to Mr. Suresh Shetty  the poor quality of the execution of the work and the intermittent stretches of roads where the jalli was not spread either on the left or the right side of the road. Moreover, wherever, the jalli was spread with light tar, the jalli was dislodged with craterlike formation of loose jalli endangering the limbs and lives of especially two wheel drivers.

 

On hearing my reasoning and argument, Mr. Suresh Shetty promised to visit the places with the contractor and witness for himself the queries that I had raised. Meanwhile, as there had been hue and cry about the state government not clearing the pending bills of the contractor, I asked Mr. Suresh Shetty whether he could give me details of the pending bills on this work for which he was quite hesitant. In turn I told him that I would issue notice to the State Government on this issue. I pointed out to him that it is quite ironic that the Central Government says that many funds allotted from the Center to the State Government are being returned unused and the Chief Minister shouts from roof tops that lots of development had taken place but Center has not released funds etc.

 

 

To my surprise within few days of these discussions over telephone  and my meeting with Mr. Suresh Shetty, he took up the issue of giving finishing touches to the road widening from Manipura to Belle with the contractor and rectifying the bad patches and final coating of tar was finished in record time as I could see the completion of the work when I traveled to Moodubelle in my car and had a pleasant drive on May 29, 2011.

 

I am really happy and wish to tell the commuters on this road that this road is good for traveling from Udupi to Belle. Despite hurdles, the Executive Engineer of PWD, Mr. Suresh Shetty has done well to complete the work.  I thank him profusely for responding to the needs of those commuters who use this road.