Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (MS)

Bantwal, Mar 9: The important road that connects the coastal districts with capital city Bengaluru is national highway (NH) 75 between Mangaluru-Bengaluru. But the irony is that some or the other stretch of it is always under repair.

The work of upgrading the BC Road-Addahole highway stretch was to be completed by now. However, the work is not progressing. In fact the work has stopped for many months. L&T had got the tender to upgrade 65 km of highway between BC Road and Addahole in 2017 for Rs 821 crore. If it had started the project right away the work should have been completed by 2019. But so far except digging the old road no other progress is seen.

This is the most direct road to Bengaluru from Mangaluru and Udupi. Though Bengaluru can be reached via Charmadi also, the distance is longer. Going via Mysuru is taking a merry-go-round.

This highway is the easiest for fuel tankers as well as goods vehicles. In addition, to save time the cost of fuel would also be less. But its seems like the NHAI officials are not interested in getting this project done in time.

The other roads leading to Bengaluru are also affected due to the huge number of vehicles. In the road that goes via Charmadi, there is always a danger of landslides and the road getting closed. The road that passes through Sampaje Ghat also is not safe as there was a landslide some years ago. The only road that is accessed by all is the Shiradi Ghat. Though the road was developed after concretization the present B C Road-Addahole issue is bothering the commuters now.

According to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) that was made ready in the beginning, along with the highway development two small size bridges, 24 minor bridges, 27 retainer walls and more than 100 drains and a wide divider in between were there. However, except for some drains, the work is just half done. No one is there to ask the progress.