A 'nightmare' in the middle of the road!

Even as the Mangalore City Corporation has taken up the work of repairing the road and Under Ground Drainages, the half completed work has become a reason for worry among the general public. 

One of the half completed UGD work on PVS-Bunts Hostel road, near the Court Road turn, the repaired drainage which has been cemented and kept for curing purpose, enclosed by laterite stones, grabbing a large part of the middle of the road, is leading to accidents especially during the night. It was on Tuesday night at 11.30 pm that this correspondent witnessed a man riding a bike meeting with an accident and was slipped on the piled up laterite stones his head bleeding severely.

And a week ago at around 11 pm a Maruti Omni travelling from PVS to Bunts Hostel hit the same encircled laterite stone blocks and was left with broken glasses, though there were no casualties. 

Though these are only the two sample cases, there is no record of the number of accidents that might have occurred in the last 15 days after the repair work was started. The Mangalore City Corporation has ignored to take up the basic precautionary measures to avoid such accidents, especially when the work is taken up on one of the most busy roads of the city.

 Though the people who drive regularly on this road would take extra caution while driving near this place, the people who are not familiar with the road face the risk of meeting with the accidents. The piled up stones are more dangerous in the night as it is not clearly visible when the vehicles move in speed. 

Speaking to Deccan Herald, localite Venkatesh Prasad said that the MCC should have been more responsible. They could have avoided the risk by placing caution tapes around the UGD instead of piling the stones. “Or they should have at least put some reflectors and caution boards to make the people aware of the work. It is a great risk travelling here in the night,” he said. 

However, MCC Commissioner Dr Harish Kumar said that the repair work of the UGD that was taken up to avoid overflowing of water from a nearby flat, takes 21 days to cure. “We have placed the laterite stones which is enough for people to recognise the on-going work. Drivers should be cautious while driving,” he said.