Road repairs bring relief to villagers

The villagers who were affected with floods and landslides in Kodagu district heaved a sigh of relief after the opening of a majority of the roads for the movement of light vehicles.

To rebuild Kodagu, a team of officials led by Kodagu Deputy Commissioner P I Sreevidya have been working tirelessly and they were joined by contractors, labourers and NGOs. The contractors have laid new roads on the landslide-affected areas.

Light vehicles have been allowed on the state highway and national highway that pass through Kodagu district. Minibuses operate on Sampaje Ghat. The minibuses take passengers from Madikeri to Madenadu. From Madenadu, KSRTC operates buses to Mangaluru.

The landslides had occurred on 25 locations on Sampaje Ghat. The road had
disappeared following landslides and flash floods on four locations including Jodupala, Madenadu and Monnangeri.

Using the latest technology, the roads have been repaired. Wooden pieces, geo fabrics, geogrid and thousands of sandbags have been used for repairing the road.

Further, pipes have been laid to allow the easy flow of rainwater. The works taken up on the stretch is only temporary, to facilitate the movement of vehicles. The new road will be laid after the tender, said workers.

Steep trenches were created on 11 locations in Madikeri-Somwarpet state highway following landslides and flooding.

The collapse of the road had inconvenienced 10 villages as the road connectivity to reach the villages was lost. Now, the road has been repaired and the schoolchildren are going back to school.

Mounds of soil on the Kalooru Road has been cleared. However, mounds of soil on hundreds of acres of paddy fields are yet to be cleared.

The heavy rain had affected 38 villages in Makkandooru, Garvale, Madapura, Galibeedu, Shanthalli, Sampaje, K Nidugane Gram Panchayats in Kodagu. The work on roads is in progress in these villages. The road leading to Abbey falls too was damaged in the rain.

With the repair of the road, the tourists have started thronging the falls in the last two days.