'Centre okays flyovers at Thokkuttu, Pumpwell'

It is part of 4-laning of Kundapur - Talapady NH, says U T Khader

MLA U T Khader has said that the Central government has approved the modified design for the proposed flyovers at Thokkottu and Pumpwell, as a part of four-laning of National Highway from Kundapur to Talapady.

Speaking to presspersons here on Tuesday, he said that the Centre has released additional Rs 26 crore, to implement changes in the design.

“The NHAI had planned embankment-based flyover at Thokkottu in the past. However, this flyover was dividing the entire Thokkottu into two and people from one side of the road could not see other. There was no arrangement for the flow of water during rainfall.

The embankment-based flyover would have created a lot of inconvenience to the public. Hence, we forcibly stopped the work and had demanded the construction of stilted flyover,” he said.

The approved flyover at Thokkottu will have three spans. Navyug constructions which had taken up the work on widening the road had halted the work for various reasons in the last few months. The work will commence shortly.

Khader said that a fresh proposal will be submitted to the government, seeking permission for the construction of a flyover at Nanthoor. Traffic congestion at Nanthoor calls for a flyover.

Sea erosion

The work on Ullal project under the Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Programme of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be started in the second week of January.

The project will comprise of construction of two multipurpose geo textile reefs and four inshore berms, to check sea erosion.

There is a need to take fishermen into confidence, before starting the work. The first phase of the work is likely to be completed before the onset of monsoon.

Introduce KSRTC

The MLA said that of the three buses which were introduced to Mudipu from Mangalore, one bus has been diverted to other destination, following the RTA decision.

“The State government is directly responsible for the stopping of the service to Mudipu. The government is working as per the wishes of the private bus owners lobby. The cancelled bus should be reintroduced,” he said.

The RTO should also issue permits to start KSRTC buses to Montepadavu, and Harekala.
A delegation will be taken to Transport Minister R Ashok, to appraise the situation in the
region and the need for introducing KSRTC buses to rural areas.

Flyaing the State government for not taking up development work, he said that the session was called at Belgaum only for namesake. No major discussions could be held in the Assembly session. The row over ration cards continues.

He said that applications for enrolment for Unique Identity (UID) number (Aadhaar) should be issued at Gram Panchayats, to help the villagers.