KARWAR: The road accident that led to the death of Union Ayush Minister Sripad Naik’s wife Vijaya on Monday evening has brought into focus the snail-paced road construction work on National Highway 63 as the half-constructed stretch ributed to the severity of the accident. The bad road sealed the fate of Vijaya and Shripad Naik’s personal assistant Deepak Ramdas as the speeding vehicle skidded when the driver, Suraj Patil, was taking a turn, “The high speed of the vehicle and the slow-paced construction work on National Highway 63 contributed to the accident.
The road is uneven where the accident occurred. One side of the road is nearly one feet lower than the other and the vehicle has gone to the lower part of the road and skidded,” said a police source here.
To make it worse, there is no barricade or signage to warn drivers on the stretch, he added.
Locals and several organisations have protested against the slow paced, unscientific construction work on the highway. As many of his relatives stay in Uttara Kannada, Shripad Naik is a frequent visitor to the district.
Having come on a trip to holy places, Naik had visited several temples and had been to Yellapaur to Gante Ganapathi temple. After spending sometime with district incharge Minister Shivaram Hebbar and his party colleagues, he was on his way to Gokarana.
He was supposed to visit a village Avarsa where he planned to stay at Kathyayini temple as per advice of his friend Sai Kiran Sethia, a native of Avarsa, who accompanied the Minister on his trip and met the same fate. District in charge Minister Shivaram Hebbar, Karwar- Ankola MLA, Rupali Naik, Deputy Commissioner K Harish Kumar and SP Shivaprakash Devraj were at the spot when the incident occurred.