Kunadapur  : Traffic again was held up for more than a hour at Ottinene, on the Mangaluru-Mumbai National Highway 66 after another mudslide on Sunday,

The first mudslide on Wednesday had held up traffic for more than five hours. The region has been receiving heavy rains since Saturday night and is continuing, with Met Department predicting more downpours. Sunday’s mudslide again left hundreds of vehicles stranded on the 66 in a three km queue from Ottinene to Shiroor, as the vehicles had already passed the alternate diversion road that could be taken from Bhatkal.

The Udupi District administration had identified Dombe Road near Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada to facilitate one-way traffic from Bhatkal to Kundapur in the eventuality of Ottinene experiencing fresh mudslides.

It is not known what time the mudslide occurred, but Kundapur Assistant Commissioner Shilpa Nag said it occurred after midnight. One of the lanes of NH 66 was cleared for traffic at 10am. The fresh mudslide had covered both the lanes of the NH 66 with debris for 10 meters to 15 meters.

The hillock which caused the mudslide was recently cut by IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd for making the road. The developers had kept four earth movers on standby and they were deployed to remove the debris.

The Kundapur Assistant Commissioner Shilpa Nag had filed a complaint of negligence and sub-standard work against the NHAI project director, IRB Infrastructure contractor and consultant who liaised between NHAI and company on Wednesday.

Meanwhile sources said the downpour was such that the newly constructed section near Trasi Beach on NH 66 had developed deep and wide cracks.