Mangaluru: Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath on Thursday, April 16, informed that tenders for the installation of CCTV cameras and fencing at the Nethravathi bridge in Ullal will begin within a week.
The development comes after a person went missing near the Nethravathi bridge late on Wednesday night. Kamath said that even though the Mangaluru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had decided to install the CCTV cameras and fencing, it was delayed for various reasons. “However, after repeated incidents of suicides at the Nethravathi bridge, installing of CCTV cameras and fencing is the need of the hour,” he said.
He added that MUDA would spend Rs 5 lakh to install the CCTV cameras and Rs 58 lakh for the fencing. Soon after the tendering process, the work will begin, he added.
It can be noted that the Nethravathi bridge has turned into suicide point over the years and achieved infamy after the suicide of Cafe Coffee Day owner V G Siddhartha. Even though social activists and several organisations urged the authorities to take measures to prevent people from committing suicide at the bridge, no action was taken so far.
It can be recalled that last year, after Siddhartha’s death, the district administration had announced that CCTV cameras and fencing would be put up at the bridge to prevent further suicides.
