Lack of vehicular underpass or overpass causing inconvenience to residents
Kallianapura Santhekatte, an emerging suburb of Udupi town located on the flanks of National Highway 66, has been bogged down by traffic woes with hundreds of vehicles competing with each other to enter and exit the busy national highway at the traffic junction every day.
The genesis of the problems goes back to the time of construction of the four-lane national highway without any underpass or overpass for vehicles either from the surrounding areas or for the ones on the highway, say residents of the area.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recently proposed a vehicular overpass at a similarly-placed Katpady Junction between Udupi and Mangaluru on the national highway upon the insistence of Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje.
Santhekatte is the nearest commercial hub for many surrounding villages, including Kolalagiri, Hoode, Kemmannu, Kallianapura, Bengre, Kodi Bengre, Thenkanidiyuru and Garadimajalu, located in about a 20 sq km area. At least four roads, from Hoodi, Garadimajalu, Kallianapura and Kolalagiri, converge at this traffic junction.
Joseph G.M. Rebello, a Santhekatte resident and a resource person in the Zilla Panchayat, said that there was a proposal for a grade separator at the traffic junction while the four-lane road was being planned. As per the proposal, vehicles from surrounding villages were to cross the highway on the grade separator to join the national highway further ahead. The proposal, however, did not materialise.
For over seven years now, residents of the localities have been facing the ordeal, particularly during the peak hours. Added to their woes is the express and shuttle buses halting very close to the traffic junction, though the erstwhile Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis had ordered that they use different locations for their halts.
Mr. Rebello said that the woes could be mitigated to a certain extent till a vehicle overpass/ underpass is constructed at the traffic junction if the traffic police manage the traffic effectively. However, that too is not happening while a few local youth, including himself, would jump in to manage traffic at times.
Sukhanand, an autorickshaw driver in Santhekatte, said that considerable fuel and energy are wasted while attempting to cross the traffic junction. NHAI should address the issue on priority, he demanded.
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