Mangalore: Ore Trucks Continue to Batter Roads Despite Police Order
from Abrar Khar - pics - Prajwal Ukkuda
for Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (GA)
Mangalore, Jul 21: Panambur, a place which used to be one of the highlights of the city for its port, factories and the industrial area nearby, off late has been in limelight for all the wrong reasons. It gained international fame with its snail pace highway road construction and pathetic potholes, not too long ago (the construction is still 'in the process'). The public had enough problems plying on this so called highway dealing with huge potholes and kilos of dust entering their lungs. And to rub salt on wounds, we now witness a long queue of mine laden trucks being parked alongside the road, causing hindrance to the already struggling vehicular movement on this road.
The queue of these trucks is spread from Kulur to Suratkal, almost covering a distance of an awful ten kilometer stretch. Road blocks are a common sight here, making life difficult not just for the general public to ply smoothly, but also for the policemen who are deputed in the area precisely for maintaining even vehicular movement. The kind of job that these cops are assigned, no wonder they lose their cool, thereby providing many with their stick music.
Mangalore SP N Satheesh Kumar recently issued an order to vacate the trucks from the area. However, the order doesn't seem to have been implemented. The trucks continue to occupy most part of the road.
The truck drivers though grumble that if they are given a proper place for parking, they will not park their trucks on this road. "Yes, we have been told that we have to vacate this place, but we are not told where we have to go. If they give a proper place for parking, preferably some 30 kilometers away from the city, it would be good for us" says a truck driver from Chitradurga.
But amidst all this, as usual, the general public is at the receiving end. It has been quite some time now that Mangaloreans try to avoid the Panambur-Suratkal road for all the troubles it has to offer and the new dimension of truck parking to the already existing road problems, are not doing the public any better either. "It certainly is an inconvenience. Especially when you have some urgent commitments, these road problems cause a whole lot of hindrances. So much of time is wasted. A separate track should be made for heavy vehicles such as mine-laden trucks, so that they move in their own track and the others can ply without any disturbance" says Valene Noronha, a student.
Apart from wastage of time, the polluted atmosphere that the people have to encounter in this region is also a cause of concern. The Panambur highway area leaves you with no choice but to cover your nose, in order to avoid inhaling of the ever rising dust off the roads. Not to forget the polluted air caused by the emission of smoke from the 'industrial area' in and around the region. The Panambur-Suratkal stretch is gradually inching towards being rounded up as one of the most polluted hotspots in the state.
In spite of the order given by the District SP, the trucks continue to trouble traffic with their passive movement on the Kulur-Suratkal stretch. Why is that the order has not translated into immediate action? Why haven't the authorities acted upon? Well, the state politics has been seeing quite a humpty-dumpty ride off late. The Reddy brothers, cabinet members in the ruling party, who in the context of this particular issue become all the more significant as they are mining moguls from Bellary, have been dictating terms in the state politics lately. The Padmapriya incident not withstanding, is this another such case where the state government is playing hide and seek with the people? The earlier these questions are answered, the better it will be for the state.