MADIKERI: Owing to heavy rainfall in the district, major damage has been reported in Virajpet-Kannur inter-state highway at Perambadi. Rains have created a gorge of 4m of length and 14m width in Perumbadi. The road damaged on July 19 will take another 10 days to be repaired, although officials have already swung to action.
Hundreds of goods transport vehicles and buses that used this road now have to take the longer Manandawadi route which is 175 km long while Kannur-Virajpet route is just 80km. PWD AEE Suresh Kumar told Express on Tuesday that the loss is estimated at `40 lakh and requires at least 120 truckloads of stones to fill the gorge. The work has already begun, he said. He said concrete revetments for both sides will be needed in future.
Now, vehicles from Karnataka and Kerala ply only up to Perambadi. Commuters cross the gorge and board vehicles from another side. Every day, goods vehicles and autorickshaws arrive from Kerala to Perumbadi, and workers shift goods to the other side of the gorge.
People travelling from Kerala to Mysuru and Bengaluru have been the worst hit. Police and forest personnel guarding Makutta check post too have to walk to their post from Perumbadi.