Kundapur: Highway divider issue - More mishaps, DySP provides temporary solution
Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)
Kundapur, May 24: The issue of providing dividers on national highway 66 in the nearby regions where highway widening work is in progress, and which had given rise to a big dispute between different sections of the society, aggravated on Thursday May 23, with two different accident occurring within a span of four hours. The issue was temporarily resolved later, with the interference of deputy superintendent of police (DySP), Yashoda S Vantagodi.
It may be recalled that reports about the dispute as well as the accidents the dividers gave rise to, had appeared in Daijiworld earlier. On Thursday morning, a car with Bangalore registration number hit a tipper while taking a U-turn at the divider. The tipper was loaded with boulders. The tipper then hit another car, after swerving to the right, even though the driver of the other car tried his best to avoid the collision, by driving it to the road edge, thereby affectively scaling the car over the divider between the highway and service road. No one was, however, hurt in this serial accident.
Within four hours thereafter, an accident involving a Kinetic Honda two-wheeler and car occurred at the same spot. On this occasion too, the car driver had tried to avoid the accident, by driving the car on the divider. In this case, a couple travelling on the two-wheeler suffered injuries. Both of them are being treated in a hospital here.
The policemen thereafter interfered in the matter, registered the cases, and set up temporary barricades. They also warned the officials of the highways department to be more responsible in conducting road widening works.
In the past, four temporary dividers had been set up between Vinayaka Circle and Koteshwar. A week back, all these dividers were removed, and a new divider had been erected there. The objections raised by locals and travellers were not heeded. On account of the divider, two accidents had occurred at the spot within a gap of half an hour, injuring two seriously. Altogether, nine accidents have occured in a span of just one week.
The locals as well as road users, who have expressed their dissatisfaction and anger at the apathy of the highways department, have demanded for clearing the newly set up road divider, and to resort to setting up dividers which existed till a week back. They want these dividers to stay till the road works and service road works are completed in full. They have also warned the department to do the needful within two days, failing which they said they would take upon themselves the task of setting right the wrongs.
DySP Yashoda Vantagodi, who visited the spot on Thursday evening, held talks with the locals and decided to set up temporary barricade at the spot as a temporary solution for the problem.
Taluk panchayat member, Manju Billava, president of Vinayak Auto Rickshaw Drivers Association, Mahesh Shenoy, Hangalur gram panchayat president, Santosh Devadiga, former president, Anand Poojary, Satish Engineer and hundreds of locals were present.