The people of Abboorukatte and Hosalli villages have been cursing the department concerned for the inordinate delay in the development work on the 5.29-km road development work.
The work, which is being carried out at a cost of Rs 5.23 crore, has not been completed even though it was started one year back.
As the road was in a poor condition, the villages requested the department concerned and elected representatives to develop the road. The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Departments took up the project under the ‘Namma Uru Namma Rasthe’ scheme, through Mangaluru division.
MLA Appacchu Ranjan initiated the work on June 25, 2015. Although the work was meant to be completed by May 24, 2016, the work has been marred by inordinate delay. There are only a couple of workers for the project and, till today, only the work on stormwater drains has been undertaken.
The road has been widened and the layers of asphalt have been removed – as a result of which, the road is full of potholes. The students of the region, who go to schools and colleges in Kushalnagar, Somwarpet and Shanivarasanthe, traverse the same road. Other villagers and office workers too are having a hard time. Vehicles are forced to move in the slush-filled road, with a great difficulty. The troubles of students and people will be intensified as the monsoon has set foot in the area.
Local resident Mahesh said that the development work of road is a good thing, but as the road is not completed before the rainy season, the villagers are troubled a lot. “The officials concerned should pressurise the contractors to complete the work soon. Only 20 percent of work has been carried out so far,” he complained.
ZP former member from the region V M Vijaya concurred that the quality of the road is not up to the mark. Old gravel stones are being reused after crushing them, she added.