Bhatkal Residents Express Anger Over Delayed National Highway 4 Construction and Poor Safety Standards
Local frustration mounts as slow construction progress, inadequate lighting, and substandard work on NH-4 lead to frequent accidents and public outcry.
Residents of Bhatkal are growing increasingly frustrated with the extremely slow progress of National Highway 4 construction work in their area. The combination of delays and poor-quality workmanship has created serious difficulties for commuters and sparked widespread public anger.
The lack of proper lighting arrangements on the highway has become a major safety concern, especially after several accidents occurred in recent weeks. This has pushed the public’s frustration to new heights.
For the past several days, local residents have been discussing these issues among themselves and repeatedly questioning social and political workers about when these problems will be resolved.
In response to the mounting public concerns, Shiv Kumar, the Project Director for the four-lane highway construction covering the Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts under the central government, visited Bhatkal today.
During his visit, Shiv Kumar met with organization officials and various social activists. He inspected the substandard construction work near Shamsuddin Circle, Rangan Katta, and Serpan Katta areas. He acknowledged the problems and promised to conduct a proper assessment of the issues and complete the work as soon as possible.
However, the visit was not without controversy. At Shamsuddin Circle, some people present tried to divert attention to poor rainwater drainage systems and attempted to confront the central government representative about municipal issues.
Local residents quickly intervened, pointing out that municipal problems should be taken up with the municipality separately. They urged everyone to focus immediately on the four-lane highway issues instead.
Syed Imran Lanka, convener of the political panel, along with Mohiddin Ruknuddin and others were present during the inspection.
While representing local concerns, Imran Lanka demanded that Shiv Kumar document Bhatkal’s problems in writing and resolve them immediately.
When some people present raised municipality-related issues before the highway official, who has no jurisdiction over such matters Imran Lanka strongly criticized them. He insisted that everyone should focus on discussing the actual highway problems.
During the event, when a Fikrokhabar news representative arrived to report on the matter, some individuals attempted to prevent the reporting. However, the Fikrokhabar journalist continued fulfilling their journalistic duty despite the interference.
It now remains to be seen how much progress will be made in the National Highway construction work following this visit, and what concrete measures will be taken to prevent accidents on the highway.
It’s worth noting that the National Highway construction work has been facing delays for approximately the past eleven years. Some work has been done intermittently after various changes and modifications, but while waiting for completion, several lives have already been lost due to these substandard conditions.
