Manjunath Bhandary, MLC, has written to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to reconsider the move to close the Shiradi Ghat stretch on Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway 75 for six months to widen the 10-km highway stretch between Donigal and Maranahalli.
In the January 16 letter, the MLC said that the Shiradi Ghat is a vital link between the coastal belt and the hinterland. The business establishments and major industries of the coastal region like MRPL, MCF, New Mangalore Port depend on the NH 75 for transportation of goods. If the Ghat section is closed it will hamper the activities of trade and industry and cause inconvenience to people.
The MLC requested the Chief Minister to instruct the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to complete the highway widening within a short period of time. Work strategies will have to be planned properly to achieve this, he said adding that adequate arrangements for materials and work force will to have to be made and the civil works should be started at multiple locations simultaneously.
Meanwhile, addressing presspersons here on Monday, Mr. Bhandary said that he is hopeful that the Chief Minister will take up the matter with the NHAI and reconsider the move.
