Ground-breaking for bridge-cum-dam in Harekala on Mar 21

The ground-breaking for the work on bridge-cum-saltwater exclusion dam across River Nethravathi, near Harekala village, on the city’s outskirts, will be held on March 21.

Mangalore MLA U T Khader told mediapersons at Circuit House on Wednesday that Minister For Minor Irrigation from Water Resources J C Madhuswamy will perform the ground-breaking in Harekala on Saturday at 4.30 pm.

District In-charge Minister Kota Srinivasa Poojary, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Members of Legislative Assembly from the district will take part.

‘’The bridge road will connect Mangaluru - Bengaluru and Mangaluru - Kerala Highways. However, the movement of heavy vehicles will be banned on the road. The water impounded in the dam will irrigate fields of hundreds of farmers in Thokkottu, Deralakatte, Mudipu and Boliyar,’’ Khader said.

The cost of the project is estimated to be over Rs 192.26 crore and work is expected to be completed by 18 months. The bridge with a total length of 520 metres, will have 52 service gates and five stop log gates. The size of gates will be 8.5X2 metres.

The capacity of the dam is 1.60 TMC. The project will be carried out on turn key basis. G Shankar is the contractor for the work. There is also a plan to construct a bridge at Adamkudru - Bajal in future, Khader added.

‘Don’t ignore Covid-19’

Nobody should take Covid-19 lightly and should take precautionary measures without fail. The disease should be included in Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ARK). Covid-19 can be cured in the early stage. People with symptoms should immediately consult the doctor, the former health minister said.

He urged district administration to conduct thermal check-up of people arriving at the railway stations and KSRTC bus stops in the district.

Khader advised state government to appoint an IAS officer of secretary-level in New Delhi as a nodal officer representing Karnataka.

The officer should to coordinate with the External Affairs Minister in bringing back the people from Karnataka, who are stranded in foreign countries.