Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (RD/SP)
Pics: Arun Uppinangady

Puttur, Jun 20: A huge tree standing by the side of Mangalore – Bangalore National Highway (NH) 48 at Kadambu, five kilometers from Uppinangady got uprooted and fell on the highway at 11 p m on Thursday June 19.

As a result,the traffic on the highway came to standstill, and nearly four kilometres long queue of stranded vehicles was soon formed on either side of the highway.  The police from Uppinangady station arrived at the spot, managed to control the traffic chaos created due to the incident.  Passenger buses plying from Bangalore – Mangalore and and those committed to reach Mangalore bus stand in time, got the news of the above incident and diverted their buses to the Puttur – Uppinangady – Mani route, which joins the Bangalore – Mangalore NH 48 near Mani. 

The traffic woes continued to bother the road users even on Friday afternoon, as the forest department personnel were engaged in axing the branches of the fallen tree, in an effort to clear the entire tree from the road.  Their task was also hindered by the intermittent downpour. 

The huge tree also damaged a few high tension electric lines and disrupted electricity supply in the whole locality. 

The personnel of the Mescom are working on restoring the electricity supply since Friday morning.  The smooth traffic on this stretch of NH would resume once the task of clearing the entire tree is completed Trees that are dotting the NH are prone to uprooted especially during rainy season when the soil gets loose every year.  Such incidences bring the traffic to a grinding halt while the motorists on urgent work suffer with failed appointments and disrupting their entire schedule.