Mangaluru: Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel has said that the union government had released Rs 17.50 Crore for the repairs of the National Highway 169 from Karkala to Kulshekara.
In a release, the MP has stated that the government had agreed to the construction of parallel bridges across the river Phalguni in Gurupura, which comes on the highway, and is estimated to cost Rs 50 Crore. He also stated that the state government had agreed to widen the roads to 45 m. All this will be done during the upgradation of the highway.
A revised alignment was produced by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in a report that was presented to the people at a meeting chaired by District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai, at the Deputy Commissioner’s office on August 22. This was done as a detailed project report (DPR) for the widening of the road, produced in 2009. However, it did not move forward due to issues with the alignment.
The final notification for the acquisition of land has been issued for different stretches (part of the revised alignment), as per an NHAI official, to the extent of 15 km.
A Rs 159.70 Crore proposal for the widening of the 21-km stretch between the B C Road junction and Punjalkatte, has been submitted to the union government, as per the Kateel’s release, which also stated that the bridges at Manihalla, Nidigal and Charmadi Halla would be rebuilt.
