BENGALURU: Irked by poor connectivity between Bengaluru and Mangaluru, people from coastal districts have decided to launch a social media campaign on Saturday to attract the attention of leaders and politicians. The campaign will use the hashtag #ConnectUsToMangalore urging people to join the campaign at 10 pm.
“Please spread the word to all your friends, especially those who are working in Bangalore and are from in and around Mangalore region (Udupi, Puttur, Kundapur etc),” read a WhatsApp message seeking support.
Even before the official campaign was launched, several people had started tweeting using #ConnectUsToMangalore and also posted pictures on the poor state of roads that are being used as alternatives to connect the two cities. In the tweets, people explained how connectivity woes had affected several businesses, and other modes of transport such as flights and trains were inconvenient for people residing along the coasts of the state.
Twitter user Maya (@Sharanyashetty) wrote: (sic) “The flight journeys are expensive..The train journey is sheer inconvenient & waste of time. The Mangalore Bangalore connectivity needs to be set in place even though we knw the bus mafic don’t want it to be done at all, but (its) time govt thought abt the citizens. #Connect Us To Mangalore.”
Another user Rahul Pai (@Rahulwr10) wrote: (sic) “Why do I & my family have to travel to mangalore to vote for any party, if we can't get their attention when most needed? Not able to travel home safely.”
Speed painter Vilas Nayak (@VilasNayak) also contributed his views to the debate, saying, (sic) "I haven't seen shiradi ghat route in good condition ever in my life! Hard to believe this road connects 2 imp cities of karnataka! Certainly seems like a big scam that nobody wants to talk about."