Journey to Karnataka's coastal districts is a nightmare

Bengaluru: Arrival of monsoon in the Western Ghats and coastal regions of the state has made travel a nightmare for lakhs of commuters, who frequently shuttle between Bengaluru and coastal districts. With Shiradi Ghat road repair works getting delayed and Charmadi Ghat road unable to cope with the volume of traffic, the commuters have to cope with long drawn traffic snarls, increased travel time and even road rage.

In January this year the South Canara district administration had closed the Shiradi Ghat road, a vital link of National Highway 48 which connects Bengaluru with Mangaluru, for concrete laying works. The State Government and district administration had assured that road will be opened up for the vehicle movement by June 1. However unseasonal rains have affected road repairs on Shiradi ghat and Charmadi Ghat road, a state highway, is witnessing unprecedented traffic jams, further aggravated by monsoon.

A KSRTC driver told this newspaper that driving on the Charmadi ghat has become a nightmare. “In the month of April and May, district administration allowed sand trucks to use this road.  Now after five-six days of rain, the condition of the road has worsened and we are witnessing minimum 2-3 hours traffic jam on the ghat road every day. Last week the police were forced to intervene when drivers started clashing with each other,”he explained.

However, Public Works Department sources blame the delay in Shiradi Ghat repair works to unseasonal rains. “As per the original schedule, we were planning to open the road for public use from June 1. But due to the unseasonal rains in the month of April and May, repairs got delayed. Now the whole stretch of Shiradi ghat is receiving heavy rainfall and we can not continue concrete laying works. So no one can be blamed for the issue. If there is a lull in the monsoon, we can resume the works. Otherwise we need to wait till October,” the sources said.