www.coorgtourisminfo.com campaign impact: Work resumes on Hunsur-Gonikoppal Road
Work on the repair of Hunsur-Gonikoppal Road in Karnataka which had come to a halt following the monsoon and change of government, has resumed now due to the vigorous campaign launched on Facebook, the social networking site, by the editor of this portal.
It may be recalled that the editor, P.T. Bopanna, had created a Facebook page ‘Repair Hunsur-Gonikoppal Road’ following the failure of the previous BJP government in Karnataka to take up work on the pot-hole ridden road, notoriously known as the ‘road to hell’. The editor had met Governor Hans Raj Bharadwaj and prevailed upon him to direct the state government to start work.
Though work was taken up on the eve of the Assembly elections in April this year, it came to a halt after the new Congress government assumed office.
A fresh campaign was launched on Facebook a few weeks ago, which caught the attention of P. Manivannan, IAS, chief project officer at Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project. He had responded by saying: “I really appreciate this wonderful initiative to highlight the problem and also bring pressure on the decision makers. In a democracy voice matters! United and sustained voice works wonders!”
For those not familiar with Mr Manivannan, he is one of the most pro-active and people-friendly IAS officers in Karnataka. He was previously the MD of BESCOM and was conferred the ‘Namma Bengaluru Award’ for 2012 in recognition of his “extraordinary contribution” to Bangalore.
Mr Manivannan’s response was in sharp contrast to the behaviour of the elected representatives from Kodagu – former Speaker K.G. Bopaiah and former minister Ranjan Appachu. Both of them failed to take any action on improving the Hunsur-Gonikoppal Road during the four years of their tenure as MLAs, but started work on the eve of the Assembly elections. And won by hoodwinking the people of Kodagu!
Of the 45 km of the road, work was taken up only in a short stretch of the road near Hunsur last April. With the onset of the monsoon, work had come to a standstill.
Fortunately, Dr H.C. Mahadevappa, who is the Kodagu district in-charge minister, is now the PWD minister. This should make things easier for taking up the road work. Moreover, Dr Mahadevappa is a close confidante of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
This reporter who travelled on the road a few days ago, found that work was going on at a few places.
Earth-moving equipment had been deployed near Panchavalli to broaden the road. Work on a bridge (in picture above) near Allur was nearing completion.
However, work is yet to start from Anechowkoor side towards Hunsur. The pace of work should pick up. It is rather slow.
