Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Feb 18: Under an ambitious plan to reduce the pressure of traffic inside the city by improving rural roads located in the city outskirts, repair and asphalting work has been undertaken at several places.

The long-awaited repairs and renovation work on Neermarga - Adyar Padavu - Arkula (Valachil) has been undertaken now. This road is being upgraded into the district main road. The road is being widened from the previous 5.5 metres to 7 metres. This will help the vehicles to freely move about. As this road has several ups and downs and dangerous bends, two vehicles moving in opposite directions can negotiate the road if the same is widened.

The plan is to develop the 6.2 km long road from Neermarga in two phases In the first phase, the first 1.71 km of the road will be widened and tarred at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore. In the first phase, 300 metres of the road has been completely removed and reconstructed. The first phase of widening work has been completed and asphalting work is going on.

Proposal for a five crore rupees grant has been sent to the government for the remaining 2.87 km road work. Grant is awaited. This road is planned to be turned into a four-lane road for about 200 metres near Adyar Padavu church as it is a junction.

Once this road is developed, people going to Moodbidri, airport etc from areas like Adyar, Farangipet, Thumbe and Kannur can directly go there without entering the city area. From Valachil, they can reach their destinations via Neermarga, Bairuli and Vamanjoor. Local MLA, Dr Y Bharath Shetty, points out that this will enable rural people to get good roads, and at the same time, traffic in the city roads will be a little reduced.