Shiradi Ghat Connecting Bengaluru And Mangaluru Shut Once Again, This Time Due To Floods

The Shiradi Ghat on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru national highway 75 (NH 75, formerly NH 48) has been closed today (10 August) owing to heavy flooding in the Western Ghats. Several instances of landslips, rocks being dislodged and more have also been reported.

Of the total 37 km ghat, a few sections were selected for concretisation in 2014. Around 24 km between Heggadde and Kempu Hole was concreted and opened to traffic in early 2015. The stretch was completely closed to traffic from January this year to finish concreting the balance 13 km.

Initially set to open in June, the road’s opening was deferred to July and finally opened on 1 August after a two month-long delay.

Due to the road being shut, vehicles heading to the coast are using the Charmadi ghat near Dharmasthala to reach the coastal districts of the state.

In 2017, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took over the road from the Karnataka Public Works Department (KPWD) and prepared a detailed project report (DPR) to upgrade the road to six lanes and build a tunnel.