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Mangaluru: Minister irked with PWD for failing in upgrading Charmadi Ghat


Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, June 29, 2015: Presiding a meeting of the district natural calamity monitoring committee Minister  Rai said the district administration had asked the PWD in July last to upgrade the ghat, but the department did nothing.  DK district in-charge Minister B. Ramanath Rai June 28,  criticised the Public Works Department for what he called  “irresponsible” attitude in upgrading the Charmadi Ghat, the main alternative route between the coast, state capital and the hinterlands.

 

dc press mee

 

dc press meet ...


The Charmadi ghat is heavily in use in the wake of the closure of the Shiradi Ghat, the main thoroughfare on NH75, for reconstruction works.   DK DC Adoor.B. Ibrahim said repeated reminders from the administration were not of any help. The PWD woke up only when two Ministers stuck in traffic jam in Charmadi soon after the Shiradi Ghat was closed in January this year and undertook minor modifications, he pointed out.

There have been frequent traffic jams on the ghat and commuters were inconvenienced, he said. In the last one week, there had been frequent traffic jams on the Charmadi Ghat with vehicles lining up for kilometres together. Those travelling by buses and other vehicles remained stranded on the isolated ghat stretch in the dense forests for hours together without there any basic amenities, DC  Ibrahim said. PWD Executive Engineer (NH Division) Nataraj said that the recent traffic jams were due to plying of multi-axle trucks, the monsoon, landslides and tree falls.

The administration, however, was not prepared to buy his argument and issued strict directions to set the things right. PWD’s  Nataraj sought deployment of six home guards in the Dakshina Kannada border as well as Chikkamagalur border.   Superintendent of Police S.D. Sharanappa and Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer P.I. Sreevidya were present.