Mounesh Vishwakarma
Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jul 30: The road which connects Arkula with Baddoor Kana on Meramajalu Road is in such a bad state that it forces one to wonder whether it is a road or slushy field.

This road, falling within the jurisdiction of Mangaluru (north) assembly constituency, has not seen better days since the last 30 years. The villagers here allege that under pressure from villagers, their MLA, Mohiuddin Bava, had promised to concrete this road. 'The promise has stagnated where it was, but the road has turned into a muddy field since the last three months,' they rue.

The road between Arukula and Baddoor Kana passes through Meramajalu in Bantwal taluk and Adyar gram panchayat in Mangaluru taluk. While the stretch of the road that falls within Meramajalu gram panchayat has been concreted, the remaining stretch of the road which is in Adyar gram panchayat has turned into a stretch of soft soil.

During February last, MLA, Mohiuddin Bava, had visited this spot to consider demand for concreting it, and he returned after promising of laying concrete road. Thereafter, the existing mud road had been dug during March for beginning the work of concreting. During the four months thereafter, concreting work has not begun, and the road travel here has turned into a nightmarish experience for the citizens because of the fact that moving through this road gives the experience of walking through quicksand. For the 50 odd families which live at this part, walking through this road has become an unavoidable ordeal. A local, Shanti Lobo, laments the fact that the students of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour School nearby have to struggle through the slush to reach their school.

Many locals said when they approached their MLA, he did not give any response or assurance to address the problem. 'As we do not have alternative roads, and this is the only road even during emergencies, we are facing lot of hardships. School children and senior citizens find it hard to traverse this section of the road. Even private and public vehicles find it impossible to move on this road. Even the local zilla panchayat member has failed to come to our rescue,' they said.

Villagers, Celine Pinto, Praveen Lobo, Cyril, Santhan Vas, Francis Mendonca, Stany D'Souza, Vishwanath Belchada, Mohandas, Namita, Harish, Gopal Belchada, Dinakar and Raghu have avowed to lay siege to the home of the MLA if the road is not cleared of slush within a week from now. They have urged the district in-charge minister also to understand their plight, intervene in the matter, and help them overcome the problem.