Iron ore trucks damage roads

Mangalore's export cargo is region's curse

The Save National Highway and Bridges Committee, Udupi, has threatened to fast unto death from October 18. They want the trucks overloaded with iron ore fines to stop plying on the roads.

They have demanded that the chief minister's assurance on the issue be implemented. They want stringent action taken against the truck owners, including cancellation of permits and action taken against officials of departments concerned for alleged dereliction of duty. The villagers of Madyanthar and Machina blocked the trucks from plying on these roads at Ballamanjan on Sunday.

The National Highways (NH) 17 and 13 have been damaged substantially by trucks transporting iron fines from Hospet, Tumkur and Tiptur to the New Mangalore Port. The other roads belonging to the Public Works Department in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts too have been badly damaged due to the short cuts taken by the trucks. The iron fines are being exported to China.

According to B Guruprasad, superintending engineer, PWD, the estimated loss caused by trucks plying in Dakshina Kannada is about Rs 250 crore and in Udupi it is around Rs 150 crore. If these trucks are allowed to ply, then in three to four years all bridges in the districts will collapse, he added.

The bridges that collapsed are the Amai bridge, the Barkur bridge, two bridges in Bantwal town, five minor bridges between Uppinangady and Puttur, one at Periyashanti in Dharmasthala and two small bridges between Belthangady and Bantwal.

Says Guruprasad: "It's a repeated process. Everyday we get reports of such damages. We are undertaking temporary repairs as permanent methods cannot be taken now because of the rains."

The National Highways Authority has sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for the repair of the bridges in its jurisdiction. However, Rs 1.5 crore is needed to repair Amai Bridge alone and Rs 2.5 crore to repair Barkur bridge. The other bridges need around Rs 5 crore.

The maximum load permitted for trucks is 10 tonnes for twin-axle vehicles and 25 tonnes for multi-axle vehicles. But these trucks carry around five tonnes more than the limit.

The regional transport authority from Hassan to Mangalore booked 6,002 cases till April 1 and collected fines amounting to Rs 1.59 crore. However, the menace has continued and from April 1 till June 30 this year it booked cases against 1,703 vehicles and collected a fine of over Rs 34.48 lakh.

Checkposts at Mangalore, Puttur, Chikmagalur, Udupi, Shimoga, Hospet, Koppal and Tumkur are monitoring the movement of these vehicles. "We have started checking at the mines itself and the problem has been under control across the state," claims regional transport officer M Giridhar.

B S Balakrishnan, executive engineer, National Highways Authority of India feels it is the result of the cumulative damage. According to him, four minor bridges have collapsed on the National Highways, i.e. a loss of Rs 1.5 crore.

According to the New Mangalore Port sources the demand for iron fines from China will last at least another 10 years. About 600 trucks are parked at the truck terminal near the Customs House in Panambur (earlier the capacity was 150) and they are allowed to enter the port only in during the early morning hours and after 10 pm to avoid traffic jams and dust pollution.

Water sprinklers are used at the port to settle the dust and a parallel road has been constructed inside the port area exclusively for these trucks.

It makes sure the iron fines are covered to ensure they don't cause pollution on the way to the port. These measures have been taken after the public protested movement of these vehicles during peak hours.

The completion of the broad guage conversion of the Hassan - Mangalore railway in June 2005 as announced may bring some respite for the public.