Neglected & Incomplete Road Construction in ‘Mahadevi Nagar’, Behind Mahadevi Bhajana Mandir, Karmar near Padil Railway Under Bridge is a Nightmare for Residents in that vicinity
Mangaluru: One thing for sure when it comes to the safety and convenience of the residents during any construction, either a new road or drainage or a footpath, Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) or Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL) give a damn or least concern about it- and we are all experiencing the hardship and inconveniences caused by all these road construction works in every nook and corner of the City- and many of these works which were started all at the same time are either incomplete or stopped due to shortage of labourers, where many of them have headed back home right before the lockdown.
And many times when the construction work is going on or the work is left incomplete for a long time puts the commuters and residents in that area in hardship. And among the bunch of incomplete and shabby road works in the City, here is one such road in ‘Mahadevi Nagar’, Behind Mahadevi Bhajana Mandir, Karmar near Padil Railway Under Bridge a nightmare for residents, commuters and businesses. At some spots, the trenches are waterlogged after it rains for 15-20 minutes. There are no flags or signboards to indicate work in progress which is the number one hazard to commuters. And the worst part is that the road has been blocked for vehicles, not even a two-wheeler can pass.
Just imagine blocking the road completely for the sake of construction, when residents are put into hardship. If the so-called Smart Engineers in this Smart City could have used their brains or common sense, they would have directed the contractor and his labourers to provide at least a path for two-wheelers to pass- but that has been totally ignored here at Karmar. And the residents in this area have to walk a distance carrying bags of essentials, especially the seniors who are facing lots of problems with the road being blocked due to the slow-paced road construction work. The work on this road started a couple of months ago, has been delayed, neglected and only one or two labourers are seen working, which makes the project go on at a slow pace.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, one of the residents in that Mahadevi Nagar vicinity Advocate Uday Shenoy said, “Due to this slow-pace of road work, around 50-80 houses are affected. Residents are unable to use the most common means of transport, their two wheelers. For more than one month residents, including senior citizens, have to walk till the main road, carrying their daily rations and necessary requirements, uphill, which is causing hardship to them. We have seniors who are barely able to walk, patients with serious back pains who cannot walk so much uphill, on a daily basis. One older citizen is getting discharged from hospital in a day but she will not be able to come home after being admitted in hospital for more than a month. Thanks to the ruckus of hayware, an unplanned and unprofessional approach to the work of constructing Road without having sensitivity towards the residents of the area”.
Uday further said, “We also spoke to local corporator Mrs Shobha Madam, wherein, for the last two weeks she has been only promising dates, to give at least a minimum access to ride two-wheelers for the aggrieved residents. In the meantime, the suffering continues. Even my wife Smitha spoke to the Corporator at least four times in the past week, but all her efforts in convincing the corporator to do the needful have been in vain. Is this how the City Officials put the taxpayers in hardship and put their lives in jeopardy due to such unscientific, unplanned and incomplete road work. If the MCC mayor, our ward corporator and other concerned officials do care for the citizens, then they should rectify the problems faced by the residents here due to this ongoing slow road work”.
Yet another senior citizen who wanted to remain anonymous said, “Earlier my son used to bring all the required essentials in his scooter, and now that the road is completely blocked, and also that he had a fall and injured his foot, I have to do all the grocery shopping, and being a woman of 79 years of age, it has been one hectic and tiresome walk all the way from my house to the grocery shop and back. Why are our elected representatives putting seniors like us in hardship? Does anyone in the district administration or MCC show any concern towards elderly folks? I only hope that this report will awaken the concerned persons behind this project to do the needful, and provide a suitable path so that at least we can commute to and fro to do our errands and shopping”.
With the work of this road goes on at a snail’s pace, the residents of Mahadevi Nagar will have to face all the inconveniences and many hardships, until this report reaches the concerned officials to take action quickly and do the needful, and Team Mangalorean hopes that there could be an Website Impact after this report is published and also goes viral on social media. While both the pedestrians and the commuters taking this route have expressed their anguish over the delay of the works, hope the authorities would speed up the work. The entire road being dug-up and left open, and with no space even for a two-wheeler to pass, due to this the residents of this road have to face undue difficulties.
This report is for the kind consideration of MCC Commissioner Akshy Sridhar, MCC Mayor Premanand Shetty, Area Ward Corporator Shobha, and MSCL Managing Director Prashanth Mishra (only if this project is the Smart project of MSCL) to kindly do the needful and relieve the residents from all the hardships and inconveniences they have been facing due this ‘Neglected & Incomplete Road”!
