Daijiworld Media Network – Sullia (SB)
Sullia, Jun 16: Residents of Mandekolu near here held a road block opposing the bad condition of the main road connecting the village to the taluk headquarters on Monday Jun 15.
The members of the action committee who organized the protest said that the condition of the 15-km-long Sullia-Ajjavar-Mandekolu road leading up to Kerala border had completely deteriorated. In the past though several demands were made to develop the road by holding various protests, the concerned department or people’s representatives did not respond to the demands forcing the residents to hold a road block, they said. The protestors also informed that the road falls under public works department (PWD) and that there was an ongoing tussle between officers of engineering department of zilla panchayat (ZP) and PWD officers on which department should undertake the repair works. The PWD officers maintain that the road comes under ZP, they informed.
ZP in-charge president Venkat Dambekodi who arrived at the spot took to task the officers of the both the department for confusion that was putting the public into inconvenience.
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel who arrived at the spot requested the protestors to stop the protest and ordered the officers concerned to convert the road into ZP road in two weeks. He also assured the protestors that the road would be soon asphalted under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojna. He further ordered PWD officials to immediately take up the patch works of the road and render it motorable.
It can be recalled here that Udupi MP and erstwhile Mangalore MP D V Sadananda Gowda while participating in a programme last year to inaugurate hanging bridge near here had assured that a master plan will be chalked out for the development of the village. But the assurance is yet to see the light of the day. Only one-km-long road in Mandekolu has seen asphaltation with rest of the road yet to be asphalted. Mandekolu is D V’s birthplace and has been BJP’s bastion for long. However, it is noteworthy that many of the protestors who participated in the road block were supporters of the BJP.