Poor road conditions in DK–Udupi: MLA Manjunath Bhandari urges CM for immediate repairs
Mangaluru: Continuous rains and heavy vehicular traffic have severely damaged roads across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. The deteriorating condition of highways, state roads, and service roads has led to a sharp increase in road accidents, posing a serious threat to public safety.
In 2025 alone, Dakshina Kannada district has reported 702 road accidents, resulting in 122 deaths and 815 injuries. A significant number of fatalities involve pedestrians and two-wheeler riders. Highlighting the alarming situation, Legislative Council member Manjunath Bhandari has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging urgent repair works.
The Kundapura–Tirthahalli State Highway 52, spanning 93 km, connects several key towns and villages. However, the road has not been widened in the past 40 years, causing severe traffic congestion. The Kandlur bridge, constructed in 1960 across the Varahi river, is now on the verge of collapse, making its reconstruction essential.
The major ghat roads of Agumbe, Shiradi, Charmadi, Balebare, Sampekatte, and Nagodi are extremely narrow, leading to year-round traffic jams. Even ambulances face obstructions during emergencies. The poor state of these roads is also damaging local trade and tourism in the coastal belt and temple towns of the region.
While several state highways have been upgraded to four lanes with Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance, State Highway 52 has been excluded, drawing criticism from local residents who see it as discriminatory. Citizens and organizations have demanded that funds be mobilized through ADB, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), or the BOT (Annuity) model to upgrade the road.
Local residents have called for immediate repair of highways, reconstruction of the Kandlur bridge, widening of State Highway 52 into a four-lane road with national highway status, and construction of tunnels in ghat sections to ease traffic congestion.
With 122 deaths recorded in Dakshina Kannada district alone in 2025, the situation has reached a crisis point. The MLA has urged both the state and central governments to act without delay, emphasizing that improving road infrastructure is vital not only for public safety but also for the economic and tourism growth of the coastal region.
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PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
