KSRTC bus blocks Charmadi Ghat for 10 hours

Traffic was blocked on the Charmadi Ghat stretch for more than 10 hours, when a KSRTC bus tyre got stuck in a drain, late on Sunday night.

The bus was heading towards Bengaluru from Mangaluru and remained stuck in the fourth curve of the ghat section from 11 pm till 9 am on Monday. The road was blocked until the police facilitated the movement of light vehicles on one side around 6 am. The bus was finally lifted at 9 am, Adarsh, a passenger stranded in the bus, told Deccan Herald.

Passengers on the bus from Dharmasthala and Mangaluru spent the night on the road. “The travel was horrifying to all especially children who were crying for food and water,” said an eye witness.

Though the road was blocked throughout the night, the police did not arrive on time. This aggravated the situation, said passengers. Unaware of the traffic block, many vehicles continued to pour into the road and the traffic density increased by the early morning hours.

It was only in the morning that the KSRTC stopped all buses towards Mangaluru at Kottigehara. The check post gate was closed to prevent the entry of vehicles into the ghat section.

Manjula, who was stranded in the traffic jam, said: “With the closure of Shiradi Ghat to facilitate road work, the density of vehicles on Charmadi Ghat has increased. The sufferings of the passengers could be understood by only those who got struck in the traffic in the middle of the forest. The State government should wake up and deploy additional staff on the night beat.”