Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Jan 7: The people who want to visit places located on the other side of Shiradi Ghat stretch of national highway 75 will have to undergo the ordeal of choosing an alternative route for their travel again with effect from January 20 till May 31. The road is being closed for undertaking second phase repair and restoration work. This information was given by PWD minister, Dr H C Mahadevappa.
Addressing a press conference at Sakleshpur on Saturday January 6, the minister said that road concreting work is being taken up between 250.620 km and 263 km of national highway 75 and that it has been decided to close the road for repairs as there is no extra space to keep materials and machinery needed to undertake repair work adjacent to the road.
"Mangaluru-based Ocean Construction India Pvt Ltd has been awarded this contract. Originally estimated cost of this 13 km project was Rs 61.57 crore. The contract has now been awarded for Rs 86.85 crore. Although 15 months time is given for completing the work, we have asked the firm to complete the work before May end this year. The road will be reopened on June 1 for vehicular traffic," the minister said.
To a question, the minister clarified that national highway department has 11.5 metres wide land all through the highway and that currently, there is seven metres wide road. "This will be widened to eight metres and for remaining portion, shoulder would be constructed. If needed, bridges with a width of seven metres will also be widened," he stated. He said that in the past, Shiradi ghat stretch of the national highway used to get spoiled frequently, creating problems for road users. Therefore, based on scientific report, it was decided to concrete this road, he said.
13 km of this road had been concreted in 2013 but the firm to which the other portion was given failed to execute the contract. Therefore, its contract was cancelld and the work was tendered afresh and given to another company. Ocean Construction had executed the first phase of work here, he informed. "There are 74 minor bridges on this 13 km stretch. Work on 27 minor bridges over three km has been completed and work on other bridges is in progress. Work on road will be undertaken on full scale from January 20 once the work on bridges is completed. Machinery needed for the work has already been brought to the spot," he said.
Sakleshpur MLA, H K Kumaraswamy, PWD additional chief secretary, Lakshminarayana, deputy commissioner of Chikkamagaluru, Sreerangaiah M K, chief engineer, Laxman Rao Peshwe, superintending engineer, Raghavan, superintendent of police, Rahul Kumar Sahpurwad and others were present.