DC orders closure of old bridge on NH 66 at Arate near Kundapur

Udupi Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari on Wednesday ordered the immediate closure of the old bridge at Arate on Kochi-Panvel National Highway 66 between Kundapur and Byndoor across the Souparnika for vehicular traffic and diverting the traffic on the new bridge in Udupi district.

Udupi Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari on Wednesday ordered the immediate closure of the old bridge at Arate on Kochi-Panvel National Highway 66 between Kundapur and Byndoor across the Souparnika for vehicular traffic and diverting the traffic on the new bridge in Udupi district.

Ms. Vidyakumari in her notification issued under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rules, said the vehicles will be diverted on the newly constructed bridge, as a part of the four-lane project.

The old bridge at Arate near Mullikatte, Ms. Vidyakumari said, was constructed in 1966 and has become almost dilapidated. As per a technical report by infrastructure firm M/s Assystem India Ltd., the bridge has become unfit for vehicular traffic.

Consequently, the project director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), based at Kumta, who is in charge of the widening of NH66 between Kundapur and Karwar (Goa-border), requested the DC to issue orders closing down the bridge for vehicular traffic, she said.

Following the closure of the old bridge, vehicles will be diverted on the newly constructed bridge, she said. NHAI had built the new bridge parallel to the old bridge as a part of the Kundapur-Karwar four-lane project.