Udupi: With 22 accident black spots identified on national highways in Udupi district, MP Kota Shrinivas Poojary has directed National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials and contractors to urgently implement road safety measures, including streetlights, signboards, barricades and blinkers, at these locations and major junctions to prevent accidents.
Chairing a meeting at the DC office in Rajathadri, Manipal, recently, to discuss recurring accidents on National Highway 66 at locations including Kota, Padubidri and Tekkatte, Poojary stressed the need for scientific road design, timely maintenance and improved safety infrastructure to ensure smooth and safe traffic movement. He also directed NHAI officials and contractors to facilitate discounted local FASTag passes from Nov 1 for residents living within 20 km of toll plazas, in accordance with applicable provisions. With accidents on NH 66 increasing and claiming lives, contractors must take effective steps to reduce fatalities and injuries, he said, warning that legal action would be initiated against the officials concerned or contractors if accidents occurred due to maintenance lapse.
Service road works at Nittoor, Tekkatte, Kumbhashi and other locations should also be completed quickly without compromising quality and opened to the public, he said, noting that accidents were frequently reported along these stretches.
He said contractors must not limit their role to collecting tolls but also ensure that highways are maintained in accordance with prescribed standards. Poojary said highway maintenance in the district was not being carried out adequately despite clear guidelines and contractual obligations. Given the heavy traffic at Ambagilu junction, precautionary measures must be taken to prevent accidents, he said.
Continued negligence could lead to public resentment, with people potentially refusing to pay tolls, he cautioned. He directed officials to expedite the service road project from Ambagilu to LVT, where tree removal and drain construction have begun. Flagging inadequate lighting at the Kallianpur-Santekatte underpass, Poojary asked Mescom and NHAI officials to coordinate to ensure that the streetlights function continuously at night. On the proposed skywalk at Tenka Yermal, which has drawn opposition from local residents, Poojary called for the project to be halted and measures to be explored for constructing skywalks at other high-footfall locations, including Ambagilu and near Mahesh Hospital in Brahmavar.
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He said a detailed project report was being prepared to develop an accident-free highway stretch from Kundapur to Talapady, along the lines of the model followed in Kerala. MLA Gurme Suresh Shetty said heavy traffic in Padubidri had led to frequent accidents, deaths and injuries. He suggested that an overbridge or underpass be prioritised at the location to improve traffic flow and prevent accidents. MLA Yashpal A Suvarna called for a service road from Balaipade to Korangrapady and urged officials to provide all essential road safety infrastructure at accident-prone stretches. SP Hariram Shankar, DFO Ruthren P, Additional Deputy Commissioner Abid Gadyal, Assistant Commissioner Mahesh P S, NHAI project director Abdulla Javed Azmi and others were present. Download the TOI App.