Bengaluru, Apr 1: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced on Tuesday that work on 10 mega road development projects in Karnataka would commence from December this year.
Gadkari was speaking after laying the foundation for upgrading two major highways in the State – NH-218 (new NH-50) and NH-234 (new NH-69), in Bengaluru.
On the occasion, he not only rubbed shoulders with the Opposition MPs and ministers of Karnataka, but also received appreciation from the Congress leaders for the “good work” he has been doing.
Promises galore
Gadkari promised to look into Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa’s demand for the speedy development of the Mysuru-Bengaluru road (NH-275) from four lane to six lane, and four bypasses on the stretch.
Promising that he would intervene to disentangle the “Nice mess” – the stalled Bengaluru-Mysuru infrastructure corridor project by next month, he said it was imperative to build an expressway between Bengaluru and Chennai to reduce the travel time between the two cities.
He announced 10 major national highway projects in Karnataka (1,572 km) at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore. All these projects will be concrete roads, he said.
Projects
The highway projects on which the work will begin by December this year are - Hosapete- Chitradurga (Rs 1,000 cr, 120 km); Hosapete- Ballari (910 cr, 95 km); Hassan-BC Road (Rs 1,500 cr, 133 km); Shivamogga -Mangaluru (Rs 2,300 cr, 190 km); Ankola-Hubballi (130 km); Hubballi-Hosapete (Rs 1,300 cr, 130 km); Vijayapura-Kalaburagi- Humnabad (Rs 578 cr, 250 km); Tamil Nadu border-Bengaluru- Dindigul (Rs 770 cr, 204 km); Nelamangala- Tumakuru; Chitradurga-Haveri.
These are existing roads which will be developed.Mahadevappa urged Gadkari to sanction a peripheral ring road around Bengaluru to decongest the City’s traffic and reduce the pollution levels.
Noting that funding was not a problem for the execution of all these projects, Gadkari said his ministry was burdened by other problems in the road sector.
Land acquisition and environment clearances had stalled projects worth Rs 3.8 lakh crore across the country.
He appealed to the state governments to address these issues and introduce the online system to expedite road works.
Inland waterways
Gadkari said his ministry would build a major network of inland waterways across the country, including Karnataka. The Centre would introduce a new bill in Parliament, to convert 101 rivers into transport channels. The waterways works would solve the water problem between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he added.
Appreciation from Kharge
Not mincing words, Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge hailed Gadkari’s style of functioning.
“As far as development is concerned, irrespective of party affiliations, Gadkari has not mixed it with politics. To prove that he means business, Gadkari has taken up the task of cement roads on highway projects, and has even managed to get the cheapest rates for procuring cement – Rs 120 per bag,” he added.
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