The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Major district roads neglected

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 13, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Major district roads neglected

By Our Staff Correspondent

Potholes increase the threat to safety aspect on driving on roads like this in the Mangalore-Bajpe sector.

MANGALORE, SEPT. 12. With the focus of the planners shifting towards the National Highways, the Major District Roads — the nerve network of the rural areas — appear to have fallen onto bad times. The state of these roads after the monsoons have been termed "terrible" by road users.

As a result, many interior areas of the district have been rendered "unreachable," even though the district has and excellent track record of transport facilities. Dakshina Kannada has a total of 844 km of Major district roads, 338 km of State Highway and 176 km of National Highway.

The Major district roads (MDRs) connect 206 gram panchayats, 17 hoblis, five town panchayats and 422 inhabited villages through a network involving other categories of roads. Many of them on the coastal side comprise fisheries roads, which are perennially in peril. Out of a total population of 18,96,403 (2001 census) about 11,53,942 (about 70 per cent) live in rural areas, which could be reached by the MDRs.

`Unsafe roads'

Recently, a survey conducted by TNS Mode for the Government of Karnataka said that 80 per cent of a total of 3,319 motorists driving on the MDRs in the State have felt unsafe due to bad road conditions, poor road geometrics and absence of road signs. Dakshina Kannada district part of the MDRs could be worse due to the heavy wear out of the road surface due to heavy rains and absence of water drain-off gradience on the roads.

Inadequacy

The Committee on Infrastructure Development of the Coastal Agenda Task Force (CATF) had also expressed concern at the condition of the roads in its draft proposals about the inadequacy of MDRs in the district. The Committee observed: "The life and performance of the road pavement depends upon the efficient functioning of the road drainage system. Places where there is stagnation of water, the pavement starts deteriorating rapidly. Therefore, the surface and the sub surface drainage system should be properly designed. Shoulders are road margins along either side of carriage way within the formation width of the roadway..."

The major proposals that have been suggested by the Committee have remained on paper for the last three years. The Committee had proposed laying of 10 different roads, including Ring Roads, connecting Jappinamogaru on NH 17 to Kannur on NH 48 at a cost of Rs. 14 crores and a distance of nine km and connecting Kulur to Maravoor Bajpe Airport Road at a cost of Rs. 5 crores for a distance of five km.

Strengthening roads

The committee had also suggested widening and strengthening the various MDRs such as the Mangalore-Bajpe-Kateel-Belman-Airport road at a cost of Rs. 5.75 crores to a distance of 14.5 km, Bantwal-Polali-Bajpe-Kateel- Mulky Road a distance of 43.55 km at a cost of Rs. 12 crores and Darbe-Subramanya-Jalsoor-Subramanya, BC Road-Buntwal-Guruvainakere for a distance of 40 km at a cost of Rs. 7 crores. All of these have remained on paper.

The Committee had suggested three main by-pass roads under MDR category namely Kateel by pass (two km), Vittla Town by-pass (seven km) and Sullia Town by pass (5.5 km) at a total cost of Rs. 14.40 crores. But all that meticulous work of the Committee has gone in vain.

What is more disturbing is the fact that all these roads have immense importance to the growth of the district.

While the Mangalore-Bajpe sector has the Airport, industrial and religious tourism as beneficiaries, the Darbe-Subramanya-Buntwal sector has agriculture, horticulture and commerce and trade as beneficiaries.

With the Coastal SEZ slated to come up in Mangalore taluk with an expected Rs.30,000 crores investment, the MDRs may be the only bet for Dakshina Kannada to have face saving exercise.

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