M’lore : Potholes put brakes on residents’ lives

The Hindu

Mangalore, April 29, 2014 : The 4.5km stretch from Padil to Jeppinamogaru behind Mangalore Junction Railway Station is so deteriorated that some suggest it could be used as a track to check how good the suspensions of your vehicle are.

As soon as the 500m concrete road from Padil to the railway station ends, the bad patch begins. The stretch is riddled with potholes that residents claim haven’t been fixed for years.

Local shopkeepers raise concerns about the plume of dust that get scattered around when vehicles pass, damaging their shop items and troubling pedestrians. “During the rains, people travel through the longer route, and not many people come on this stretch. Ultimately, my business suffers,” says Anand Raj, a shopkeeper.

 

Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) officials say there are 370 plots along the road, which is the main connecting link between areas of Jeppinamogeru, Bajal and Alape.

Residents who spoke to The Hindu fume that the money for road repair was sanctioned a couple of years ago, they haven’t seen any work take place. “Autorickshaws never come here because of the road, and we have to walk all the way from the main road,” says one such resident.
Work soon

Jeppinamogaru Corporator J. Surendra says work will begin as soon as the concreting of the Yekkur road (the other link to the areas towards National Highway 66) is completed. “Currently, the Yekkur road is closed and work will be completed in four days. After that we can close the Jeppinmogaru road for concreting,” he says, adding that the 550m stretch will be concreted at the cost of Rs. 1.30 crore.

Though the master plan envisages the road to be four-laned, B.T Kantharaj, Deputy Commissioner (Development), MCC, says acquisition of the land is a hurdle that restricts the project to just two lanes and a footpath.

“We have talked to residents, but they are not willing to give up land under TDR (Transferable Development Rights). This is the only option as land acquisition is expensive and time consuming,” he says.