Road connecting 16 houses closed

The road connecting houses in block number 16 on Madikeri-Mangaluru National Highway 275, had caved in following landslides and currently it is filled with sandbags.

The mud has also not been cleared even after a month. As a result, the road connectivity to 16 houses has been lost, complained residents on Wednesday.

Staging a protest against the negligent attitude of the officials, leader Uttappa said that the families have been living on block number 16 since 1965. The mounds of soil which caved in during landslides had blocked the road and the CMC officials have not initiated any action even after submitting a memorandum, he said and urged authorities to facilitate road connectivity by clearing the mounds of soil.

The engineers from National Highway Authority should have conducted a spot inspection before initiating work on the protective walls beside the National Highway. But the road is closed without taking any alternative measures, he said.

A resident, Subramani, said that mounds of soil have accumulated on the road leading to his house. He said that they had been using the road for the last 50 years and now, the entire road has been blocked.

Another resident, Ratnamma, said she has lost her daughter during the landslides. She had taken shelter in a relief centre until the floods receded. But, when she returned, she could not go to her house as the road had been blocked.