Watch: The never-ending misery of the Bengaluru-Mangaluru highway

A ground report on the ongoing roadworks on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru highway which has triggered landslips and made travelling more unsafe during monsoons

On July 18, multiple landslips hit the road stretch between Sakleshpur and Marenahalli affecting traffic movement. But this is not the first time it is happening. The incident is one of many, repeatedly occurring on the 10-km stretch of NH 75.

Even a decade after the 185-km Nelamangala-Hassan stretch of Bengaluru-Mangaluru National Highway 75 was made four-lane, the remaining about 125 km stretch between Hassan and B.C. Road near Mangaluru sees regular road-widening work. Portions of the under-construction highway are damaged at several places on the outskirts of Sakleshpur town.

Residents believe unscientific hill cutting, both for highway widening and execution of the Yettinahole Water Diversion project in this region, triggers landslips following heavy rains. This monsoon, Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan received 1,480.9 mm rainfall from June 1 to July 22 as against the normal rainfall of 960.9 mm.

The endless work on this stretch with no solution in sight has impacted the lives of people all along the stretch Similarly, Uttara Kannada has also been in the news for a major landslip in Shirur taluk that has claimed the lives of close to 10 people.

We speak to locals, drivers and people who run businesses in the region to find out how this has impacted their livelihoods.

Read more: Unending work on NH 75 in Karnataka spells misery for people

Reporting: Sathish GT, Anil Kumar Sastry