Private bus operators will not ply their buses on the National Highway No. 17 between Nanthoor Circle and Talapady on Wednesday to protest against the bad condition of the stretch.
They have threatened to block other vehicles on this stretch between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Buses will not be operated on Konaje-Thokkottu Road.
This will affect public transport to Mangalore University and other medical institutions at Deralakatte.
Ivan D'Souza, president, District Karmika Parishat; Rajavarma Ballal, president, Canara Bus Owners' Association and P. Bhaskar Saliyan, Dakshina Kannada Bus Owners' Association, told presspersons here on Monday that the entire stretch of the road had worn out and it was impossible to run buses on it.
Mr. Ballal said that about 300 buses would be off the road on that day.
He said that buses to other places on the NH 48 towards B.C. Road and on NH 13 towards Moodbidri and on NH 17 towards Surathkal would ply normally.
Mr. D'Souza said that a “padayatra” would be taken out from the circle to Thokkottu Junction covering about 8 km to register their protest.
A public meeting would be held at Nanthoor Circle at 9 a.m. and at Thokkottu Junction at 12.30 p.m. Of all the three national highways in Dakshina Kannada district, NH 17 was the busiest. The district got funds under calamity relief fund for repair of roads. However, the officials did not repair the road, he alleged.
Mr. D'Souza wanted to know what steps the Mangalore MP and the Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister had taken to repair the highway.
He said that huge craters on the highway stretch had affected the health of drivers, conductors and also the commuters. Maintenance cost of buses had gone up as owners had to spend more on spare parts and tyres.
Mr. Ballal said that if the Government did not take steps with in a week to repair the stretch, they would storm the offices of the Mangalore Division of the National Highways and also the offices of the National Highways Authority of India.
Another protest
Meanwhile, United Christian Association, Kulashekar, has said that it would organise a protest at Kulashekar on Tuesday to urge the Government to repair the NH 13 between Vamanjoor and Nanthoor Circle.
The association said in a release that the stretch was in bad condition and the authorities had not made any effort to repair it.
A representative of the association Jeevan said that traffic would be blocked at Kaikamba between Nanthoor Circle and Kulashekara for sometime.
