Karnataka   

It’s a dusty problem here

During the rainy season, vehicle-users face hardships because of bad roads. Residents of Hubli have to deal not only with bad roads but also dust.

The “dusty problem” is somehow manageable in winter, but becomes unbearable in summer.

The movement of manganese-laden trucks through the city in recent years have only added to the problem.

Already, people have devised ways of dealing with the problem to some extent. They use scarves, handkerchiefs and goggles to protect themselves from dust. The worst affected are two-wheeler riders and pedestrians. When the movement of vehicles kicks up dust, others riding vehicles are exposed to risk as their vision gets blurred.

In the last few years, there has been a spurt in the number of people going to clinics and hospitals with dust-related health problems soon after the rainy season.

Such was the severity of the problem last year that the then Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation P. Manivannan ordered the sprinkling of water on dusty roads twice a day during summer. This year, the HDMC Commissioner Ajay Nagabhushan has formed special teams of pourakarmikas to sweep the main roads where the problem is severe. But the effect hasn’t been much. Realising the adverse impact of the dust on traffic police personnel, the Hubli (North) Traffic Police set up two oxygen booths for them recently, in an attempt to mitigate the damage to their health. In spite of the measures, the corporation is unable to solve the problem fully. It appears that the main obstacle for them is the movement of ore-laden trucks. Although restrictions are in place on their movement during the day, the trucks continue to pass through the city as there is no alternative road. The proposal of constructing a bypass road that would connect Gadag Road with Karwar Road has been hanging fire. Corporation sources revealed that unless the project was implemented they wouldn’t be able to stop the trucks from passing through the city.

Girish S. Pattanashetti in Hubli

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