Partial ban on truck movement at Panambur

The Mangaluru City Traffic Police have imposed a partial ban on entry of trucks to the National Highway 66 from New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) and Baikampady area to smoothen vehicular movement on the highway between Kulur bridge and Baikampady bridge.

The ban would be in force from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. as trucks from NMPT continued to make multiple trips between the port and Baikampady to get the load weighed a the weigh bridges located in Baikampady. The NMPT, which had been asked to get a weigh bridge in its premises, is likely to install the same by March 15.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Uday Nayak told The Hindu that the partial ban has been imposed on experimental basis even as traffic moved smoothly on the first day — Wednesday. If it does not bring in expected results, the police might consider restricting trucks’ movement from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mr. Nayak said.

The problem in the stretch gets compounded due to the unfinished road over bridge (RoB) on the railway track leading to NMPT where vehicles moving on four lanes would get squeezed into two lanes, he said.

Incensed over frequent traffic jams in the locality, Mangaluru North MLA B.A. Mohiuddin Bava had called a meeting of the authorities concerned, including NMPT Chairman P.C. Parida, officials from the Southern Railway, City Police and others earlier in the week.

Taking the Railways to task for the inordinate delay in completing the RoB at Baikampady, Mr. Bava asked them to complete it by January 26. He also directed the Railways to open a local road leading to Jokatte via Baikampady, which had been closed, to ease vehicular movement in the region. If the Railways did not remove the barricades, people might be forced to do it, he warned.

Prior to this, the traffic police had erected barricades at several vantage positions along the stretch of the highway to prevent trucks from taking ‘right’ and ‘U’ turns, thereby disrupting movement of other vehicles. However, this measure too was found to be inadequate.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nayak warned that owners/drivers parking their vehicles on the highway between Kulur Bridge and Baikampady bridge would heavily be penalised. Mr. Parida had reportedly promised in the meeting to deploy security personnel from the port to curtail vehicular parking on the stretch.