Highway maintenance work transferred to NHAI

Highway maintenance work transferred to NHAI

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Apr 12: The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to entrust the 130kms of NH48 between Hassan and BC Road to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for development. The Ministry has also decided to entrust nine more national highway stretches to the NHAI. Currently, these stretches are being maintained by the state government through the State’s National Highway Division under the Public Works Department (PWD). 

The Ministry wrote to the NHAI regarding the transfer of these stretches on March 16, 2010. The 10 stretches have been identified as requiring improvement as per Phase 4A and Phase  4B of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The union government has not yet approved Phase 4B. Sources say that the NH13 stretch between Mangalore and Shimoga will be first developed under Phase 4A. 

The stretches identified for improvement and coming under Phase 4B are: Chitradurga and Hospet (119 km); Hospet and Bellary (73 km); Bellary and Gooty (77 km); Hospet-Hubli-Ankola (271 km); Gundlupet-Coimbatore (Kerala border - 26 km); Hoskote-Dabaspet (89 km); Tamil Nadu border-Bangalore (204 km) and Gulbarga-Bijapur-Humnabad (200 km). 

The people of Mangalore will greatly benefit by this because NH48, NH13, and NH17 will be transferred to NHAI. The connectivity between Mangalore and the remote regions of Karnataka is bound to improve soon, thereby enhancing the economic condition of the area. 

The NHAI will develop the Surathkal - BC Road stretch first as a 4-lane road. A bidder has already been chosen for widening the Suratkal - Kundapur stretch along NH17 and also the Nanthoor - Talapady stretch along NH17. Land acquisition for the same has already commenced.