Repaired Sakleshpur – BC Road stretch won’t last long - PWD

Repaired Sakleshpur – BC Road stretch won’t last long - PWD

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Jan 25, 2012: The Sakleshpur to BC Road stretch is motorable at present, but driving through it in the middle of the rainy season would be impossible, says the Public Works Department (PWD).

The PWD (NH Zone) of the Mangalore division has repaired the stretch from Dec 15 to Jan 19. Speaking about it, Executive Engineer Krishne Gowda said that the phase I is now complete and phase II is about to begin. Stating that asphalting has been done, he said that contractors are reluctant to work on this stretch and the contractor who is willing has no money to invest and wants the government to give him an advance. But the government has not yet released funds, he added.

Gowda has assured that the repaired road stretch will be motorable till the middle of June or August. Right in the middle of the rainy season, vehicles will no longer be able to use the road.

Speaking about the various problems of this road stretch, he said that the road has a weak foundation as it was initially designed to be a village road and was upgraded to the status of national highway later. Since the road is not made to take heavy vehicles, it gets easily damaged during heavy rains.

Stating that the PWD gets Rs. 75 lakhs annually for road maintenance from the centre and Rs. 5 crore annually from the state, he said that this is not sufficient to give the road the repair it requires. He said that the foundation of the road should be laid once again to suit its current requirements and that the road needs to be a four-lane concrete road with proper drainage system.

Speaking about the prospects of widening the road, K. S. Krishna Reddy, the chief engineer of PWD, says that land is required to widen the road. Stating that a proposal to widen the road was sent to the centre nearly 3 years back, he said that the centre is yet to respond to it. Claiming that NH engineers are capable of constructing roads meeting international standards, he said that the type of road that is required should be determined first.