Thousands of passengers commuting to the coastal region from elsewhere in the State are forced to endure long hours of travel via Charmadi Ghat, the only available route since many days.
Following the closure of Shiradi and Sampaje ghats since August 13 because of landslips induced by torrential rains, Charmadi Ghat is the only available major network connecting the coast. The condition of the ghat road, which was already battered during the six months’ closure of Shiradi Ghat from January to August this year, has further worsened owing to movement of heavy goods vehicles and overall increase in traffic.
Buses starting from the coast and Bengaluru on Monday night reached their respective destinations by Tuesday afternoon, a 15-hour journey as against the normal 8-9 hours. Despite ban by the district administrations of Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada on the movement of heavy goods vehicles via Charmadi Ghat, a multi-axle truck made its way on the ghat from Kottigehara towards Mangaluru and broke down near Annappaswamy Temple causing traffic gridlock.
It was a repeat on Tuesday night too when another goods vehicle broke down on the ghat stretch and held up traffic on both the ends. Vishwas Kamath from Bengaluru said his in-laws, who started their journey from Mangaluru on Tuesday night, reached Bengaluru only by Wednesday noon. Similar was the case with Sudhir Prasad, who began his journey from Udupi on Tuesday night to Bengaluru.
While KSRTC is operating about 15 night services via Charmadi, most of the private tourist buses between the coast and Bengaluru ply via Charmadi during the night. The sudden spurt in traffic at night, along with bad condition of the ghat stretch, often causes traffic gridlocks, said Narasimha Kumar, a resident of Belthangady.
Those travelling by cars choose other safer routes, including Agumbe, to avoid getting caught in Charmadi.
