Residents of Kulai and surrounding areas on Wednesday urged Mangaluru city police to prohibit plying of LPG bullet tankers and other very heavy goods vehicles on Honnakatte Junction–Kulai–Kana interior road (Vidyanagar Road).
In a memorandum submitted to Assistant Commissioner of Police (North) Srinivas Gowda here, the residents said Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) had widened and concreted the 2-km-long road for the benefit of thousands of residents of the locality. The areas are purely residential and also have educational and religious institutions.
Besides residents of the area, other general public make use of this stretch to reach MRPL, HPCL, Katipalla, and Bala.
Via Surathkal
However, heavy goods vehicles, including bullet tankers, have of late been plying through this interior road, putting the life of general public in danger, the residents said. These vehicles should ply via Surathkal to reach National Highway 66 and not take the interior road, they said.
Bullet tankers are moving explosives and their operation in thickly populated area could trigger mishap any time. Other heavy goods vehicles, mainly transporting coke sulphur from MRPL cause dust pollution in the residential area, they said.
Despite urging authorities of MRPL, HPCL and other industries not to route heavy vehicles on the interior road, no action was taken, the residents said urged the administration to take stringent action in this regard. Kulai Nagarika Samithi president Bharath Shetty, DYFI State president Muneer Katipalla and others were part of the delegation.