Karwar highway bypass is inevitable: Madhav Nayak
Karwar, July 09, 2022: Janashakti Vedike president Madhav Nayak has stressed the need to have a bypass road in Karwar.
“People are now suffering due to the unscientific highway works. About ten years ago people had protests demanding the construction of a bypass on the Karwar highway. But officials did not pay heed to it then. In the future a bypass would be inevitable,” Nayak told reporters.
“The district has been receiving heavy rains for the past week. A few days ago, Chendia in Karwar received the highest rainfall in the state. Traffic was disrupted on Friday due to waterlogging on the highway from Amadalli to Binaga. This was because of the unscientific four-laning of the highway,” Nayak alleged.
“We had demanded a bypass in the area even before the national highway work started in 2012. We fought a legal battle through Soli Sorabjee. We had also stated that since the naval base is in proximity it is not safe to have a road here,” he said.
“If a bypass road was constructed here the distance would have been reduced by about 10-12 km and the people would not have faced the kind of problems that they now face. The Hyderghat road existed earlier too. A bypass would have developed the rural areas like Kinnar and Shirawada. However, the politicians then insisted that the highway should be built on the existing place. The hills on the side of the highway have not been cut properly. Therefore, the boulders on the hills continue to fall. This is proof of what happens if we go against nature,” Nayak said.
Pipe culverts have been fitted to allow water to flow. It is not a coherent system when the flow of water is more. Replacing pipe culverts with box culverts would help in allowing water to flow smoothly,” he opined.
Shortly the authorities will be compelled to construct bypass for the convenience of the people or the sake of safety or any other purpose. Development works have to be done for the benefit of the people. But the present highway work is against the people,” Nayak alleged.
