Shiradi Ghat opened for traffic after six months

coastaldigest.com news network

July 15, 2018

Mangaluru, Jul 15: Almost six months after it was closed for concretising works, the Shiradi Ghat road that connects Mangaluru with Bengaluru, Hassan and other places, was finally opened to all kinds of vehicular movement today.

PWD Minister H D Revanna, Urban Development and Housing Minister U T Khader and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel inaugurate the road stretch at Gundya on Dakshina Kannada-Hassan border at 11.30 am.

Of the 37 km of the ghat stretch, 26 km was proposed for concretisation in 2014. The stretch between Heggadde and Kempu Hole Guest House in Hassan district was concreted between January and August 2015. Concreting of the remaining 13 km started on January 15 this year. As a result, vehicles had to mainly depend on Sampaje (very heavy vehicles) and Charmadi (other vehicles) Ghats.

Though the contractor — Ocean Constructions — technically had 18 months to complete the work as per the contract, it obliged the government and the people by completing it in six months. Some ancillary safety works are pending, but they are expected to be completed in a fortnight. Incidentally, the same contractor had executed the first phase of the roadwork.

Speaking after the inauguration, H.D. Revanna, Minister for Public Works, urged Mr. Kateel to take up the proposed Shiradi Green Bypass Project (between Marenahalli in Hassan district and Gundiya in Dakshina Kannada district) with the Centre to further ease travel between the coast and the hinterlands.

He said a detailed project report, estimating the cost at Rs. 12,500 crore, is ready. “MP Kateel has to take the project forward. The project has to be executed on build-operate-transfer model, with funds arranged by the Union government,” he said.

Vehicles had piled up at the Gundiya Gate since morning to move via Shiradi Ghat. The police allowed them to pass only around 4 p.m.

Only two-wheelers, four-wheelers and tempos will be allowed to move on the ghat for the next 15 days in order to facilitate taking up of safety works, including that of guard walls.

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Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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