The long-pending flyover at Thokkottu junction in Ullal on the National Highway 66, connecting Mangaluru and South Kerala, was finally ‘inaugurated’ on Sunday. However, the inauguration was not done by Prime Minister Modi or by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, but by activists sporting masks of the PM and the Union minister.
Activists of the DYFI, CPI (M) and other left-leaning organisations marched in protest against the long delay in finishing the project. The prime target of the protest was Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel MP, who the protesters blame for the delay.
“We are blaming our MP and holding him responsible, who is only thinking about how to disrupt communal harmony but not interested in development. For the last eight years, the work is pending here and in Pumpwell. We have elected an MP who is always giving one date to inaugurate the flyover and the last date he had given for the project to be completed was December 30. But we know that not even 70% of the work is finished,” Nithin Kuthar, District Joint Secretary of DYFI, told TNM.
The trio also waved in signature Modi style at the crowd gathered below, who were witnessing the mock inauguration. The activists also protested against the slow progress of work of another flyover in Pumpwell.
The project, part of the four-laning of Highway 66, has been pending for some time. It is needed to relieve traffic congestion for motorists passing through Thokkottu and Mahaveera Circle in Mangaluru.
MP Kateel, in the past, has blamed the delay on “tactics” of the state government, poor financial condition of the contractor Navayuga Udupi Tollway and on difficulty in acquiring land.