UDUPI: There is no end in sight to the woes of commuters travelling to Shivamogga, Sringeri, Koppa and other places from Udupi district as repair work on the Agumbe Ghat stretch of NH 169A is yet to be completed.
Deputy Commissioner K A Dayananda had in March issued an order banning vehicular movement from April 1 to 30 on the stretch to take up the repair work. Though the deadline is just a few days away, the repair work is not showing any sign of being completed and this has irked commuters.
Heavy rains in June 20180 caused landslides on the 7th (Udupi district) and 14th (Shivamogga district) hairpin curves of the ghat section and to the disappointment of the commuters, the repair work is yet to be taken up on these curves. It was only after about 10 months that steps were taken to repair the stretch.
Sources said it will take another two months to complete the repair work on the 7th and 14th curves. Shashidhar, a regular commuter between Udupi and Shivamogga, told TNIE that if the Agumbe Ghat is closed for two more months, commuters like him will have to take circuitous routes via Kundapur or Karkala.
Patients from Shivamogga and Chikkamagalur, who come to Manipal for treatment, also suffer owing to the closure of Agumbe Ghat. Assistant Engineer, National Highways Department, Sringeri sub-division, Manjunath Nayak, told TNIE that engineers at the site decided to repair the 5th curve first as it requires a lot of attention.