Railway overpass at Baikampady is weak'

February 18, 2011

Mangalore, February 18: A team of officials from Southern Railway said on Thursday that the overpass across national highway 17 at Baikampady was weak and posed danger to its users.

At a meeting here, they refused to take up the responsibility of maintaining the overpass stating that it was neither constructed by Southern Railway nor owned by it.

However, S.K. Raina, Divisional Railway Manager of Palghat Division, said that Southern Railway could provide its expertise to those maintaining it.

At one point, Mr. Raina said: “Why should we maintain the overpass which is weak?'' The meeting was convened by Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, and Ganesh Karnik, MLC and member of the State's Joint Legislature Committee on Railways, to resolve issues involving the railway network in Mangalore. The meeting decided that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should maintain the overpass by taking technical help from Southern Railway.

P.N. Gawasane, Project Director, NHAI, Mangalore, said that NHAI could maintain the overpass provided NMPT gave records related to it. M.R. Hedaoo, Chief Engineer, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), said that the overpass was built by NMPT 30 years ago on public demand. But NMPT did not have drawing and other records pertaining to the overpass. Mr. Gawasane said NHAI had submitted documents to Southern Railway for constructing an overpass at Baikampady, parallel to the existing one. He sought early approval for it. Unless the new overpass was built, the existing one could not be demolished.

The meeting could not resolve other issues as senior officials from South Western Railway and Konkan Railway did not attend it.

Mr. Raina told Mr. Kateel said that Southern Railway would include some projects in the Mangalore region for consideration for sanctioning in the 2012-13 railway budget.

Mr. Kateel told presspersons that another meeting would be held here on February 26. A joint inspection of places having railway issues would be done on that day.

He said that he would convene a meeting once in every three months to resolve railway-related issues in Dakshina Kannada. Railway officials from Konkan Railway, Southern Railway and South Western Railway would be invited to it, he said.

Mr. Raina said that Southern Railway would double the track between Kankanady Junction and Thokur at an estimated cost of Rs. 150 crore. The total length of the line was 22 km. To a question, he said that he could not say when it would be completed as technical investigation of some stretches had to be completed. Work up to four km near Panambur on the stretch had begun, he said.

Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav and Commissioner of Mangalore City Corporation K.N. Vijayaprakash were present.

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Mangaluru’s KPT becomes India’s first autonomous govt polytechnic

News Network

January 23,2026

Mangaluru: The Karnataka Government Polytechnic (KPT), Mangaluru, has achieved autonomous status from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), becoming the first government polytechnic in the country to receive such recognition in its 78-year history. The status was granted by AICTE, New Delhi, and subsequently approved by the Karnataka Board of Technical Education in October last year.

Officials said the autonomy was conferred a few months ago. Until recently, AICTE extended autonomous status only to engineering colleges, excluding diploma institutions. However, with a renewed national focus on skill development, several government polytechnics across India have now been granted autonomy.

KPT, the second-largest polytechnic in Karnataka, was established in 1946 with four branches and has since expanded to offer eight diploma programmes, including computer science and polymer technology. The institution is spread across a 19-acre campus.

Ravindra M Keni, the first dean of the institution, told The Times of India that AICTE had proposed autonomous status for polytechnic institutions that are over 25 years old. “Many colleges applied. In the first round, 100 institutions were shortlisted, which was further narrowed down to 15 in the second round. We have already completed one semester after becoming an autonomous institution,” he said. He added that nearly 500 students are admitted annually across eight three-year diploma courses.

Explaining the factors that helped KPT secure autonomy, Keni said the institution has consistently recorded 100 per cent admissions and placements for its graduates. He also noted its strong performance in sports, with the college emerging champions for 12 consecutive years, along with active student participation in NCC and NSS activities.

Autonomous status allows KPT to design industry-oriented curricula, conduct examinations, prepare question papers, and manage academic documentation independently. The institution can also directly collaborate with industries and receive priority funding from AICTE or the Ministry of Education. While academic autonomy has been granted, financial control will continue to rest with the state government.

“There will be separate committees for examinations, question paper setting, boards of studies, and boards of examiners. The institution will now have the freedom to conduct admissions without government notifications and issue its own marks cards,” Keni said, adding that new academic initiatives would be planned after a year of functioning under the autonomous framework.

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