JOIN USShiradi Ghat, which is a link between Mangaluru and Bengaluru, was opened to all types of passenger vehicles; including multi-axle buses, on Wednesday morning.
The ghat was closed for the traffic from August 14 following massive landslides at multiple locations.
It was opened to light motor vehicles like cars, jeeps, two-wheelers and maxi cabs, from September 5.
However, goods vehicles like trucks & tankers and other heavy vehicles are still prohibited on Shiradi Ghat.
Ordinary buses, including sleeper coaches and smaller goods vehicles, were plying via Charmadi Ghat until recently.
KSRTC was operating its multi-axle buses via Kudremukh. This used to take nearly 12 hours to cover the Bengaluru-Mangaluru journey; as against 7-8 hours via Shiradi Ghat.
In fact, since 1989 (including the second phase of concreting of the Shiradi Ghat road) successive governments had spent totally Rs 231 crore on repairing the Shiradi Ghat stretch. Speaking to DH, Shiradi Gram Panchayat member Dinesh Shetty said that traffic on the ghat in the morning was moderate.