BELAGAVI
Incessant rains have battered the Khanapur-Anmod stretch of the Belagavi-Goa NH4A highway, with motorists left to struggle along the route.
The stretch which is incomplete due to a petition by environments is in dire straits as motorists are struggling to deal with the 55-km incomplete stretch filled with potholes and treacherous treks, which are invisible due to heavy rains lashing the Khanapur-Goa border region.
Apart from facing huge inconvenience, loaded trucks and motorists find it difficult to travel along this road, with major and minor accidents being reported across the stretch.
The 25-km stretch of the NH4A between Khanapur and Belagavi is almost complete, while the remaining stretch is left at the mercy of the Centre.
Residents of Khanapur taluka have accused former union minister and BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde of negligence in getting the stretch completed, claiming that the Karwar MP, under whose parliamentary constituency Khanapur comes, has not made much attempt to get clearance from the Centre.
Several pleas by activists, residents and a few elected representatives have gone on a deaf year as villagers from Khanapur taluka and motorists are left to suffer.
“The road comes under the jurisdiction of the Centre. It is the elected MP who has to plead with the Centre in getting clearance for the road. Even the legal hindrances have been cleared,” Khanapur-based activist Dinakar Margale told The Goan.
“Khanapur Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar has sent a letter to Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari, requesting him to take up the matter on priority and get a green signal from the courts so that the ambitious six-lane road is complete,” he added.
A local leader from Khanapur said they had submitted several memorandums to authorities at different levels, but said their pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
Margale and others have now appealed to the five-time MP Hegde to consider the plight of commuters from Goa and Karnataka.
