The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has inspected a section of National Highway 75 at Nelliyadi in Dakshina Kannada after local organisations demanded a U-turn between St George and Jnanodaya Bethany educational institutions.
A team led by Abdullah Javed Azmi, project director of NHAI’s Mangaluru division, visited the location on Friday along with engineers. The officials examined different points on the highway from near the St George institution up to Karb Sank, focusing on the feasibility of providing a U-turn and the safety risks associated with such a change.
The inspection followed a protest held on September 9 by various organisations seeking a U-turn in the area. The demand is linked to access between the educational institutions and nearby parts of Nelliyadi, where road users currently require suitable crossing and turning arrangements on the highway.
During the protest, Azmi had said that a U-turn at the location would not be feasible from a safety perspective. According to the report, he warned that providing one could create an accident-prone zone because of vehicle movement on the highway.
Instead, the NHAI project director had stated that a service road would be provided to support vehicular movement and a skywalk would be arranged for members of the public to cross the highway. The latest inspection was conducted in connection with those assurances, although the report does not specify a construction schedule, design, funding arrangement or completion deadline for either facility.
The site visit places the question of highway access within a wider road-safety challenge: measures that improve local connectivity can also create conflict points on high-speed corridors if turning movements and pedestrian crossings are not planned together. The NHAI team’s inspection covered multiple locations rather than only the proposed U-turn point, indicating that the authority was assessing the surrounding stretch before deciding on the access arrangement.
Representatives of the protest committee were present during the inspection. The report does not state whether NHAI approved the requested U-turn or announced a final alternative after the site assessment. Further decisions on the U-turn, service road and skywalk are expected to follow the authority’s evaluation of the location and safety conditions.
