Mangaluru: It has been three years since the inauguration of the Kuloor Bridge connecting Mangaluru City and Udupi District, but there has been no progress.
In the meantime, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had reported that the old bridge was inefficient four years ago but still allowed traffic on the same bridge, putting the riders at risk. Four years ago, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), while carrying out a road survey, had reported that the Kuloor bridge was not fit for traffic. The same report was sent by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to the then Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil. The Deputy Commissioner then issued an order to travel through a single bridge. The order was withdrawn due to strong opposition.
A few months later, Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for the new bridge. But the work, which was earlier in full swing, gradually stopped and from three years, there has been very little progress.
With the monsoon approaching, there is a danger of rainwater receding into the Kuloor River bed area due to the huge amount of soil that has been put up for the construction of the river bridge, while on the other hand, there is the fear of the collapse of the old bridge.
Hence, the CPI (M) here demanded that the work should be carried out at the earliest. The Panjimogaru Zonal Committee also staged a protest near the Kuloor Bridge. Neither Local MLA Bharath Shetty nor the MP is interested in the construction of the Kuloor Bridge.
There is news in the public domain that the work may have stopped due to the commission of the work. The work has been stopped due to a dispute with the contractor. I don’t know when the construction of a six-lane bridge between the two bridges will be completed. The Rs. 57 Crore Project has now reached Rs 70 Crore.
The target was to complete it in 18 months. Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had also laid the foundation stone for the project in 2020 and the work started in 2021.
The bridge was closed and repaired in 2020. However, the new bridge has not been constructed. The local people are setting the stage for a large-scale struggle and therefore before that, MLA Bharath Shetty and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel should wake up.
