Mangalore: St Agnes Students Urge Repair of Road, MCC Promises Action

Media Release

Mangalore, Jul 27: The students of St Agnes College with the support of staff and administrative body took the initiative of joining hands together and appealing to the higher authorities, with regard to the construction of sidewalks from Trinity Circle near the College to the junction at St Theresa school.

On Friday July 27, the students of St Agnes College, led by the staff co-coordinator Dr Devi Prabha Alva (from the department of commerce), accompanied by corporator Naveen D’Souza, and under the initiative of William D’Souza (Globe Travels) visited the Mangalore city corporation and placed their appeal before mayor Gulzar Banu and MCC commissioner Harish Kumar.

The team of students included degree college president Falen Lasrado, PU college president Marsha Goveas and other cabinet members namely Akanksha Hebbar, Roshal Frank, Leanne Noronha, Sabrina D’Souza, Megha Shenoy, Varalaxmi, Raveena Mascarenhas, Shruthi Kamath, Ranjitha, Maithri, Shishira Rao, Ashwini Lobo, Kiran and Sajidha.

The commissioner assured the students that the work will commence from August 10.

Last year too, the College had requested the authorities to repair the road, and the same was assured by the then mayor. However, no action was taken.

Text of the appeal submitted to MCC

"We, the students of St Agnes College and institutions, Bendore, earnestly request you to treat as urgent the completeion of the road construction and renovation project undertaken in the area. The stretch of road that we specifically refer to is that which runs past several educational institutions including St Theresa higher primary school, St Sebastian Higher Primary School, St Agnes Special School and all the institutions on the campus of St Agnes College, which are six in number.

We would like to offer you an overview of the issue. The principals, the head mistresses and the superiors of the convents in this area had, in this regard, approached your predecessor in August of 2011. They had presented to him a plea for the succesful completion of the road repair and construction task undertaken by the Mangalore City Corporation. They even offered to bear the cost of purchase and installation of CC TVs at the traffic junction. For several reasons, however, the offer could not be accepted by the road traffic department. In a letter dated 03/09/2011 the commissioner of the corporation assured the local manager and joint secretary, Sr Maria Kripa that the work would be completed at the earliest.

We regret to inform you that even a year later, the task remains unfinished. In fact the state of the roads is such that not only are people put to great hardship but also that the potential danger to life, limb and property is considerable. This is compounded by the fact that a large part of the population that uses the road consists of little children, handicapped individuals and the youth and that the traffic at peak hours is considerable in volume. Further, the road has been witness to several accidents which is completely unacceptable.

We shall attempt to give you a concise account of the present conditions of the road in our area:

- The main road, though constructed years ago, does not possess side-walks for pedestrians. This combined with speeding buses makes the road a veritable death trap.

- The edges of the road are sharp and abrupt making a hazardous for those who ply it on foot.

- The bus stops of St Agnes College and St Agnes Special school have stretches of ground on the side of the main road which are uneven and strewn with rubble and stones.

- Ditches dug on the sides of the road have occassioned serious falls for people passing by.

- There are no zebra crossings that enable pedestrians to cross the road with its heavy vehicular traffic, safely. Even when there are pedestrians crossing the road elsewhere in Mangalore the rules of traffic governing these are blatantly ignored.

Sir, we request you to look into the matter and ensure that the work is expedited for the welfare and safety of all. Perhaps if you paid a surprise visit to the area during the peak hours, you would see at first the dismal state of the road from Trinity Circle at Vas Bakery to the junction at St Theresa School.

Less than a month before India’s 66th Independence Day, we would do well to bear in mind President John Kennedy’s claim that it was not her wealth that built America’s roads, but her roads that built her wealth, and draw what lessons and pointers we can from that. It is time we Indians stopped deriving satisfaction from an eighty percent job and second best,our nation deserves the best and it is for all of us to join hands and work for an India of cent per centers.

We, the students of St Agnes College and institutions, promise to cooperate with the authorities to make Mangalore’s roads models to be emulated.

We are the confident that you will redress our grievances in as speedy a manner as possible and thank you in anticipation."