The badly damaged road at Makkoottam in Karnataka’s Kodagu district bordering Kannur that is part of the inter-State highway to Mysuru and Bengaluru has been partially opened for vehicular traffic.
The highway stretch at Makkoottam had been swept away in the heavy rain and landslips in the area nearly four weeks ago. According to officials here, the Public Works Department of Kodagu district opened the road for light passenger vehicles on an experimental basis. The sides of the damaged roads were filled with sand bags, they said adding that buses, trucks and small goods vehicles should continue to drive through the alternative route via Mananthavady in Wayanad to go to Karnataka from here.
Revenue officials at Iritty taluk here said that the route was only temporarily revived as it would take a few more months to rebuild the road.
District authorities of Kodagu had closed the road on June 12 following heavy damage caused by the rain and landslips. The damage to the road had affected the connectivity between the two States in this part of the State.
P.K. Sreemathi, MP, has called on the Central government to repair the damaged ghat road to Mysuru and Bengaluru. In a letter to Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari, she said the Centre should take immediate steps to allot funds to rebuild the road and restore vehicular traffic at the earliest.