Travelling on the over 30-km Cherkala-Badiadukka-Adkkasthala inter-State road linking Karnataka’s Vittal and Puthur towns has been a nightmare and residents are awaiting nod for the long-pending road reconstruction work.
The busy road stretch is used by heavy-duty trucks and several buses to reach the town, regarded as the nucleus of top-grade areca nuts that offers the largest market in the State for the produce.
With people in the remote localities by and large remaining indifferent, the authorities concerned perhaps did not go for any major maintenance work for the past 12 years, says Abdulla, resident of Ukkinadukka, near here.
Heavy vehicles
The condition of the road turned especially worse over the past two years after heavy-duty trucks carrying bauxite from near Neeleswaram — where mining got suspended a few months ago owing to public uprising apprehending ecological impact — began to pass through the road, said a Public Works Department (PWD) official here.
Notwithstanding the week-long road blockade staged by the Bharatiya Janata Party recently, the road is being given seemingly inferior patch-up work in a bid to fill deep potholes.
A PWD official said his office had furnished detailed project reports some two months ago to carry out tarring of the entire stretch at an estimated ₹72 crore.
“We are expecting approval shortly and the work could begin in three months,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Centre has given in-principle approval to turn the road a 25- km-wide National Highway and the decision could drag the proposed maintenance work into ‘technical hurdles’, thereby prolonging the reconstruction before the monsoon sets in, Mr. Abdulla said.
The road stretch, besides linking the areca nut market hub, is also used to reach the upcoming medical college hospital at Ukkinadukka, some 6 km away.
It also provides an alternative route to Mangaluru via Vittal, Kalladkka, and Bantwal.
Hailing the move to turn the road into a National Highway, Mr. Abdulla said it would pave the way for all-round development of the remote localities in the Tulunadu region.