Kundapur: 'Road' in Sabladi reduced to stretch of slush, locals face problems

Silvester D’Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jun 18: Sabladi, a hamlet located within the jurisdiction of Hattiangady gram panchayat in the taluk, has often made headlines for right or wrong reasons. The hamlet is again in the news because of lack of basic infrastructure.

Sabladi, where 101 families live, has been facing most of the problems it has been dogged with, since centuries. Drinking water problem has been a perennial problem haunting the residents of Sabladi during summer months, while the road turning into slushy field during monsoon months is the other. Children and elders alike face lot of problems in wading through the mucky stretch that is called road.

The road built under Grama Sadak scheme from Tallur to railway road through Sabladi, measuring about 1.5 km, is in a totally battered state. As the villagers have no other alternative, they are going through the daily ordeal of negotiating this road day in and day out.

This road was built by using Rs 35,000 grant from taluk panchayat and Rs 50,000 from out of the local area development fund of the MLA. Because of absence of drains to handle excess water, mud from the road has been washed away into the nearby rivulet, while large tracts of the road are covered by slush. The locals say about a hundred children attending various schools have a horrid time using this road.

Political upmanship has been the bane of Sabladi and development has become scapegoat due to clash of personalities.

A local, Ashok, pointed out that the villagers have been entirely dependent on this road, which is becoming more and more difficult to traverse during the monsoon months. He has warned of organizing protest if a solution to the problem is not found within two days. He has got the support of a large number of villagers. Gram panchayat member, Santosh Kumar Shetty, and former president, Satish Shetty, visited the spot and pacified the agitated villagers by promising them to provide temporary relief immediately. The visiting dignitaries were told about the proposed protest as above.

Santosh Kumar Shetty said that a sum of Rs 1.10 lac has already been sanctioned for laying crushed stones across the road, but that the work could not be taken up because of rainy season. He said he will, out of his own funds, arrange for leveling  the slushy craters by dumping pieces of tiles into them shortly.