Mangalore : Heavy rains caused landslides and traffic blockades in Padil on Saturday, July 31 in the city. The spot was close to Kankanady Railway station, and a NH 48 was reduced to a dirty track with damp mud on its bed, which vehicles could not negotiate easily. It took hours to clear the highway with long lines of traffic on either sides forced to take diversions.

In city elsewhere similar traffic jams are observed daily but when hillside collapses take place on a busy road, it is special as vehicles (some of them tired of waiting for road clearance) had to move via Thokkottu – Mudipu route as well.

It is un-understandable that the district administration does not have a supervisory squad to meet rainy problems as in kadri, Bikarnakatte, Milagres and such other areas where heavy traffic cannot move fast without a proper road for city buses and large vehicles, and it takes a long time to clear fallen landslides, walls and trees in Monsoon, especially on what is a national highway as in Kottara.
Pedestrians and vehicle drivers suffer alike if roads go away. The Road Block due to landslide was cleared by PWD and Highwaywing workers around Noon on Saturday