Mangaluru: Traffic pressure on the Charmadi Ghat road has mounted again following the closure of Shiradi and Sampaje ghat roads on Wednesday in view of landslips due to heavy rain.

Charmadi Ghat road bore the brunt of the traffic for more than six months this year as Shiradi Ghat was closed for concreting works. A month after Shiradi Ghat was opened for traffic, it has now been closed again. The stretch was opened on July 15.

The police have put up flexes at BC Road and Mani Junctions on National Highway 75 to alert drivers on the closure of Shiradi and Sampaje ghat roads.

If Hassan district administration declared on Wednesday that Shiradi ghat would not be opened for heavy traffic for the next 10 days, it is not sure when the Sampaje Ghat would be opened.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil S. said in a communique on Wednesday that people would have to use Charmadi Ghat as an alternative. Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda said that motorists should use the Charmadi Ghat till rain recedes.

Reports reaching here said that there was traffic jam on Charmadi Ghat as a lorry broke down in the middle of the road due to snag. Hence, vehicles piled up on the road.

Mangaluru Division of the KSRTC has cancelled services of all 52 premium buses to Bengaluru and is operating only the Karnataka Sarige buses through Charmadi Ghat. The Puttur division of the KSRTC, has cancelled services to Mysuru and is operating Karnataka Sarige services to Bengaluru via Charmadi Ghat. The KSRTC announced that it would refund 100 % of the advance ticket booking fare of its Volvo bus services as it had stopped operating them.

Minister in-charge of Dakshina Kannada U.T. Khader told reporters on Wednesday that the status of both the ghat roads closed for traffic would be uploaded on the website dk.nic.in. Hence, people would have to check the website for knowing about the latest updates. For assistance, people can call the toll free number Ph: 1077, he said.

Mr. Senthil said that schools and colleges will remain open on Thursday. Tahsildars of respective taluks will take a call on declaring holiday if there is heavy rain. He said that the weather department has warned that heavy rain might occur in the district for the next three days.