MANGALORE: The Public Works Department, Mangalore City Corporation, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the zilla panchayat have been asked by Minister for Fisheries and Muzrai and district in charge B. Nagaraj Shetty to make roads in Dakshina Kannada district "motorable" in 72 hours.

Mr. Shetty, who had convened a high-level meeting of engineers and heads of departments here on Monday, observed that all roads in the district had turned bad despite repairs. Some new roads had also been damaged.

He expressed dismay that bad roads and confusion about road directions were responsible for the death of motorists.

Mr. Shetty, who expressed dissatisfaction over the way the NHAI had planned its four-laning work between Surathkal and B.C. Road, stated that due to the dumping of soil for elevating the road level, the nearby fields were flooded during the rains and hundreds of acres of land had become unsuitable for cultivating the kharif crop.

He directed the consultants of the NHAI four-laning project to fill the potholes in the 35-km stretch between Surathkal and B.C. Road on a war-footing. He was also unhappy over the absence of the project director of NHAI at the meeting. The 37-km stretch of Shiradi ghats between Nelyady and Sakleshpur and the 30-km stretch from Ujire to Kottigehar should be maintained properly, he told the National Highways.

Executive engineer of State National Highways B.S. Balakrishna told the Minister that a proposal had been sent to the Government to convert the Nelyady-Sakleshpur stretch into "hard tarmac" which would cost Rs. 100 crore. The zilla panchayat, Public Works Department and the Mangalore City Corporation were also directed to maintain their roads in good condition.

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