Silvester D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jun 17: A town that has always played an important role in the history of the taluk has been going through a lean patch, thanks to the haphazard way in which the highway development works are being executed. Out of the twin-towns, Kundapur and Koteshwar, Koteshwar town has been covered by a cloud of gloom due to the highway
expansion works since some time.

At present, underpass work is in progress on national highway 66 at Koteshwar. The work is nearing completion. To the north of this underpass, the main junction through which vehicles enter into the town is located. This junction is the lifeline of the town, as all the necessary goods vehicles and buses bound for the town use this junction. But because the underpass ends here, the road which is the main entry point to Koteshwar has been adversely affected.

Koteshwar, besides being a well-known pilgrimage centre, is also a commercial hub. Historically famous Lord Kotilingeshwara temple, Lord Pattabhiramachandra temple, Sulthania Jumma Masjid and church are located here. The road leading to famous Kinara Beach, which is a famous tourist attraction, also begins from the town. The town is house to several leading business entities. After development of Kundapur reached saturation point, nearby Koteshwar had seen lot of developments. The highway widening has proved to be a bane for Koteshwar, which was emerging as a huge commercial and tourist centre in the taluk after Kundapur. People coming into the town from the taluk headquarters have to enter through the underpass. The underpass is so narrow that heavy vehicles like buses and trucks face the risk of getting stuck there as it is a challenging task to turn the vehicles here. Because of this prospect, buses have adopted the practice of not entering the town, but of picking up and downloading passengers on the service road before proceeding further. This is causing losses to the merchant community.

The gram panchayat here, which had overlooked the warning signs when it was alerted in the past by the media about this prospect, has now woken up from its slumber, taken notice of the grave mistake, and submitted a petition to the officials of the department of national highways on Wednesday June 15. President of the gram panchayat, Janaki Billava, addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, explained about the problems being faced by Koteshwar town because of the unscientific national highway work. She said that discussions had been held with the engineers involved with road works and that they were made aware of the risk of losing its sheen Koteshwar town with a population of 15,000 is facing for want of proper connecting road. She said that if the concerned do not respond to this grave problem, the panchayat, in partnership with villagers, will initiate agitation in pursuance of the said demand.