The residents of Kottigehara in Mudigere taluk on Sunday observed a bandh demanding the repair of the Charmadi Ghat stretch of National Highway 73 (Mangaluru-Villipuram) that connects Chikkamagaluru with Dakshina Kannada district. For the last two years, movement of vehicles on this stretch has been hit by repeated heavy rains and landslips.
The growers, hoteliers, businessmen of Kottigehara had called for a bandh on the day to pressurise the State government and elected representatives to repair the road. They also took out a protest march on the highway from Kottigehara. As of now, the movement of heavy vehicles has been banned on the stretch, affecting business.
Hasanabba, a hotelier at Kottigehara, said that for the last two years, the hoteliers and owners of petrol bunks and other activities had no business, as the road was closed for many months. “The road offers major connectivity for Dakshina Kannada and the rest of the State. Every day trucks carry vegetables from Chikkamagaluru to Dakshina Kannada. Besides, the people of Mudigere taluk send their children for studies to Dakshina Kannada and for healthcare, we travel to Mangaluru or Manipal via this route. Whenever the road is closed, we face hardships,” he said.
The protesters maintained that earlier too landslips had occurred on the stretch but it was restored without much delay. “Now, despite having advanced technology and heavy machinery, the National Highways wing of the Public Works Department has not been able to take up the work to strengthen the road. We, the residents of Kottigehara, demand that the government and elected representatives attend to this issue,” said Sanjay Gowda, who led the protest.
