Rickshaw and tempo drivers protest the bad condition of the road at Ganapana Katte

Report and Pictures by Anil Alva
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 1 August 2010:  Being fed up with the apathy of the contractors who have undertaken the widening of the udupi-Karkala Road through Moodubelle as well as the lack of concern of the local elected representatives of the Grama Panchayat regarding the bad condition of the approach road especially at the Ganapana Katte, the rickshaw and tempo drivers staged a protest on Sunday, 1 August 2010 from 9.30 to 10 am. 

While undertaking the task of widening the road, the slopy patch of the road at Ganapana Katte  was dug up in order to make arrangement for a culvert which has not been completed so far. The ditch like depression on the road had been causing a lot of inconveneience to the vehicles. With the beginning of the rainy season, the situation became bad and with the incessant rains in the last week the condition of the road became worst. The mud that was used to fill the ditch on the raod has become so loose and slushy that the tyres of thee ssmaller vehicles including bikes get badly stuck up in the muck. Even pedestrians find it extremely difficult to cross that patch of the road without getting their footwear stuck in the loose mud.

Following the protest, the representative of the road contractor  rushed to the spot and assured that he would take immediate step to solve the problem of slush and loose mud and summoned the JCB machine and a tipper for the work. As they were promised that the necessary action would be taken to solidify the surface of the patch of the road for smooth vehicular transport, the rickshaw and tempo drivers called off their protest. However, they were quite unhappy that the local representatives of the people neither took up the matter on their own nor showed sympathy with the protestors by being present at the spot.