Mangaluru : Unscientific road widening causes traffic congestion
- Haphazard vehicles parking
- Traffic problem due to high density of vehicles
- Deplorable footpath system
Mangaluru, June 21: Mangaluru, a prime business hub of the coastal region, is being developed into a Smart City. Thousands of vehicles come to the city. But the increasing number of vehicles has been causing traffic problem in the city and this has become a big headache to the vehicle users.
Unscientific widening of the roads has been causing traffic movement in the city. As there is no proper and systematic parking facility in the city, the pedestrians are also facing the problem. Due to lack of parking facility, the motorists park their vehicles haphazardly. Parking space is identified unscientifically. Though foot-paths were constructed on major roads in the city, they were not scientifically built. In some places, the foot-paths were constructed on the left side and in some places, it was constructed on the right side. This has affected the pedestrian movement.
Buildings which don’t have parking space
It is mandatory to ensure parking space while constructing the big buildings. On condition of providing parking space, the city corporation gives permission to construct the building. But in many places, the building owners have not followed the rule. This has highlighted the negligence of the city corporation authorities. There is an allegation that even the elected representatives (corporators) are also not responding positively to this problem. No facility was made for the pedestrians to cross the roads. Even the city corporation has neglected to construct the bus stands at appropriate places.
On National Highway 66, traffic congestion has become a common phenomenon from Nantur-Pumpwell to Thokkottu because of the road works. All the materials and machinery were dumped on the roadside causing problem to the vehicular movement. During rainy season, this is posing many problems.
During morning and evening time, the vehicular movement is more naturally. This is also causing traffic congestion. Though roads were widened, the traffic problem was not solved in many roads as vehicles are being parked on the roads and foot-paths. Along with the vehicles, the foot-path vendors are also adding more problems.
1689 vehicles registered in April
Total 1689 new vehicles were registered in April month. Of them, 970 two-wheelers, 376 cars, 94 goods careers and 249 other vehicles were registered.
Speaking to Varthabharati, DCP (Traffic and Crime) Uma Prashanth said that police personnel were deputed to avoid parking vehicles on roads. Police have been locking the vehicles which are being parked on roads for more time. Even people should understand the situation and avoid parking vehicles on the roads. There is a proposal to construct a multi-level parking lot at Hampankatta under the Smart City Project. Vehicular movement was eased due to road widening. The project would be implemented in a phased manner and public cooperation is also needed, the officer said.
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Indian-origin translator Padma Viswanathan shortlisted for International Booker Prize 2026
New Delhi (PTI): Padma Viswanathan, a Canadian-American writer of Indian-origin, has made it to the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist as the English translator of a Portuguese language novella.
"On Earth As It Is Beneath" by Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia, described by judges as a "brutal, haunting and hypnotic novella set in a remote Brazilian penal colony, where the boundaries between justice and cruelty collapse", is among the six worldwide contenders for the coveted literary honour.
The annual prize worth GBP 50,000, divided equally between the author and translator, was won last year by Kannada writer-activist Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi for the short story collection "Heart Lamp". Each shortlisted title guarantees a prize of GBP 5,000 -- also split 50-50 between the book’s author and English translator.
"What struck us most is how spare, unflinching, uncompromising and relentless it is. Maia builds an entire moral universe out of very little: a remote prison, a handful of men, and the rituals of punishment that govern their lives.
"The novel reads almost like a dark fable about power, where brutality is ordinary and civilisation feels frighteningly thin," the judging panel, which also include award-winning Indian novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy, said of the work translated by US-based Viswanathan.
The 58-year-old professor of creative writing at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville is an accomplished playwright and author, whose novels have been published in eight countries.
The list, announced on Tuesday, is dominated by women, with five of the six authors and four of the six translators being female. The authors and translators represent eight countries -- Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Taiwan, the UK and the United States.
"With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history. While there’s heartbreak, brutality and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energising," said author Natasha Brown, chair of this year’s judging panel.
The other books include "The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran" by Shida Bazyar and translated from German by Ruth Martin; "She Who Remains" by Rene Karabash and translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel; "The Director" by Daniel Kehlmann and translated from German by Ross Benjamin; "Taiwan Travelogue" by Yáng Shuāng-zi and translated from Taiwanese by Lin King; and "The Witch" by Marie Ndiaye and translated from French by Jordan Stump.
The announcement of the winning book will take place on May 19 at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London.
The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single work of fiction -- either a novel or a collection of short stories -- written in another language, translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
According to the organisers, the 2025 winner "Heart Lamp" –- the first collection of short stories to win the prize and the first translated from Kannada –- rapidly sold out in the UK in the subsequent days, with the UK publisher, And Other Stories, immediately reprinting 40,000 copies.
