The Hindu
Mangalore, Mar 7: The proposal to construct an overpass at the Mahakalipadpu level-crossing in Jeppu has been approved, according to district in-charge Minister J. Krishna Palemar.
Mr. Palemar told presspersons here on Saturday that the overpass would cost Rs. 12.43 crore. The State would contribute Rs. 6.22 crore and the Railways Rs. 6.21 crore.
Residents of Mahakalipadpu and neighbouring areas have been demanding an overpass to replace the level-crossing, which has been a major traffic bottleneck for many years. About 25 trains pass through this level-crossing daily. Railway officials conducted a survey on Saturday, according to the residents of the area. The stretch between Morgan Gate and Mahakalipadpu provides a shorter access to National Highway 17 for people in the southern part of the city.
Mr. Palemar said the Railways had sanctioned an underpass at the Padil-Bajal level-crossing. Residents of the area had been asking for this underpass for many decades, he said. This underpass was estimated to cost Rs. 3.96 crore, which would be shared equally between the State and the Railways.
Proposals sent
Mr. Palemar said that the State had forwarded proposals for an underpass to replace the level-crossing on the Adyaru-Kemmanjur road in Bantwal taluk at a cost of Rs. 4 crore and an overpass to replace another level-crossing at Ajjibettur in B. Mooda village of the same taluk at a cost of Rs. 4 crore.
The Government would rebuild the old bridge on Moodbidri Road across the Gurupura river. A proposal for a road from Kenjaru to the new airport terminal at a cost of Rs. 7.6 crore was likely to get the State Cabinet's nod soon, he said. The Minister said that the tender had been finalised for the Rs. 17-crore project to providing drinking water to Kinnigoli and 16 other villages.
The Minister claimed that sand extraction had been curbed.
There was no transportation of sand from Karnataka to Kerala, he said.
He said that six acres had been identified in the Urwa Market area for the proposed rangamandira.