Seven State highways to be upgraded as NH

 The Union Ministry of Surface Transport has said that 1,668.03-km stretch of seven State highways in Karnataka will be upgraded to national highways.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) would award the contracts and the work would commence soon.

Service roads

Minister for Public Works Department H.C. Mahadevappa told presspersons here on Tuesday that the Union Ministry of Surface Transport took the decision at a meeting on March 4, 2014. The NHAI had been told to develop service roads in the nearby towns for the convenience of local residents.

Project reports

Land would be acquired and compensation paid to the families concerned in accordance with the new land acquisition law passed by the Union government. The NHAI would prepare detailed project reports and workout the cost of upgrading each road, he said.

The seven State Highways to be upgraded to national highways are: new NH 161 – Nanded Road in Maharashtra connecting Bidar, Humnabad, Gulbarga, Jewargi, Bijapur, Hospet and connecting NH 48 near Lakshmisagar (260.81 km); new NH 50 – Jewargi-Siruguppa-Bellary-Hiriyur-Chikkanayakanahalli-Nagamangala-Srirangapatna-Mysore- Nanjangud (618.62 km); NH 73 – Mudigere-Chikmagalur-Kadur (72 km); NH 75 – Bantwal-Puttur-Sullia-Madikeri-Periyapatna-Mysore-Srirangapatna -Mandya-Ramanagaram-Bangalore (367.46 km); NH 67 – Bhanapur-Kukkunur-Yelburga-Gajendragad-Badami-Guledagudda-Bagalkot- Gadankeri (156.62 km); NH 50 – Gulbarga-Chowdapur-Afzalpur-Solapur (Maharashtra) (104.80 km) and NH 169 – Tirthahalli- Agumbe-Hebri-Udupi (87.60 km).

The Minister said the State government urged the NHAI to upgrade a stretch of 203 km between Tumkur and Shimoga to a four-lane road, at a meeting held in New Delhi on May 5.

The NHAI was also advised to upgrade four roads to national highways. They are Mysore-Bannur-Malavalli (45 km), Khanapur-Talaguppa-Bhatkal (296 km), Belgaum-Bagalkot-Raichur- Mahbubnagar and Sankeshwar-Gokak-Yaragatti-Jagalur (335 km). 

Work on Tumkur-Shimoga road widening to begin soon

The work on widening the Tumkur-Shimoga stretch of National Highway 206 into four-lane will begin soon, Minister for Public Works H.C. Mahadevappa has said.

“The project cost for widening this 185-km stretch is estimated to be Rs. 1,500 crore. The Union government has agreed to release funds. It work will be implemented on engineering, procurement and construction basis,” he told presspersons here on Wednesday.

Similarly, the Chitradurga-Shimoga stretch of National Highway 13 would be widened into two-lane. An amount of Rs. 326 crore would be spent for widening this 140 km stretch. Tenders had been floated and the government had issued the work order, he said.

The Union government had agreed to upgrade the State highway connecting Tirthahalli town and Udupi via Agumbe ghat into a national highway. The width of this road would be increased from 5.5 metre to 10 metre.

“The work is estimated to cost Rs. 1,454 crore,” he said.

Karnataka received Rs. 1,000 crore under Central Road Fund this year. It would be used for maintenance of 2,000 km of roads, he said.

The State government had earmarked Rs. 2,400 crore for the Karnataka State Highway Development Project (KSHDP).

The first phase of widening and upgrading of 1,234 km roads under KSHDP would be completed soon. Another 4,000 km roads would be upgraded in the second phase, he said.