The District Congress Committee, Mangaluru South Block Congress and Ullal Block Congress launched a padayatra from Talapady to Pumpwell against the delay in completion of flyovers at Thokkottu and Mahaveer (Pumpwell) junction.
The work is being carried out as a part of the four-laning of NH-66 from Talapady to Nanthoor on Monday. The padayatris covered a distance of 16 km.
The padayatris shouted the slogan ‘Rashtriya Heddari mattu melsetuve kamagari poornagolisi; janara jeeva ulisi.’
The protesters said that the delay in the completion of flyovers had forced road users to face many inconveniences. The NDA-led Central government had completely neglected the four-lane project. The work on Mahaveer (Pumpwell) flyover was idle for many years, they charged.
District in-charge Minister U T Khader said that undue delay in the work was forcing people to face hardship. The Central government had failed to take up development works, he alleged.
The Centre was claiming UPA government’s projects as its own. Dakshina Kannada MPs should bring out a whitepaper on funds utilised for the development of the district. “If they fail to publish a whitepaper, then as a Congress MLA, I will invoke the RTI Act and make the details public,” Khader declared.
Khader criticised that the Centre’s Ujjwala scheme had failed miserably. “Hiking the LPG cylinder price to Rs 1,000 is the only achievement of the Centre. Ayushman Karnataka is a state government project. The NH is filled with potholes. This is the MP’s contribution,” he commented sarcastically.
The padayatra ended at Pumpwell. A public meeting was held in the evening.