Minister directs pothole filling by December in Udupi

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Nov 6, 2016: Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, directed officers and engineers to repair potholes on all roads in Udupi Assembly constituency. He was presiding over a meeting of engineers of all government departments to review works in the constituency.

Minister Madhwaraj, who is also MLA from Udupi, said there have been complaints from the public about potholes on roads across Udupi. Nearly 483 km of roads in the constituency come under the Public Works Department. The Minister ordered that potholes on these roads should be covered by December. All roads under the ‘Namma Grama, Namma Raste’ scheme should be repaired, he said.

Madhwaraj added that an amount of Rs. 5.31 crore has been spent for development of roads under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana. But officers were feigning ignorance of other development works under the Centrally-sponsored schemes. Instead of coming up with excuses, they should utilise the funds under these schemes and all the works should be completed within the given time frame, he said. The Minister  took the engineers of the Udupi City Municipal Council to task and questioned them over the delay in starting the construction of Kalsanka and Kodankur bridges. “I do not understand why you wait till big potholes are created on the roads. Why don’t you fill up these potholes when they are small?” he asked.

He also directed officers of the National Highways Authority of India to submit a detailed project report of Rs. 114 crore to the Union government for the widening of Malpe-Adiudupi-Manipal-Parkala Road. Land acquisition for the widening of this road should be done without harassing people.