Mangaluru: The second phase of the Shiradi Ghat highway construction process will begin in early January 2016, a senior officer from the National Highway Authority India informed Dakshina Kannada district MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.
In a meeting held to review the execution of central government schemes at the Zilla Panchayat office on Wednesday, November 4, Nalin Kumar was informed that the Shiradi Ghat highway will have to be closed while undertaking the second phase construction. In response, Kateel directed the officer to work out an alternative and ensure that one part of the newly constructed road be kept open for traffic while the other side can be used for construction purposes. He informed the officer to seek clearance from the Forest Department to cut a few trees between the 664-671km stretch to make movement of traffic from one side possible. A meet with the district Deputy Commissioner in this regard is likely to be held soon.
The 237 – 250.62 km stretch of the highway was concretized in the first phase and was open for traffic on August 10 this year.
The long pending Baikampady Bridge work will be finished and opened on November 16, a representative from Navyug Constructions, which has been assigned the project informed. Kateel, taking cognizance of this, ordered that he will pay a visit to Baikampady on a stipulated date to cross-check these details.
He ordered the Navyug representative to restart impending work of the Pumpwell flyover at the earliest adding that it was a project of the central government and that the MCC officials had no say (As it was intimated that MCC officials had put the project on hold claiming impending alterations). The timetable has to be submitted to Kateel by Thursday, November 5.
Sticking to the initial plan, Navyug promised that flyovers at Pumpwell – Thokkottu and Talapady – Mulky will be completed by May 2016 and minor work at Bappanadu and other parts mentioned in the project will be finished within the next three months.
Model village
Kateel having chosen Balapa village under the Model Village project, the blueprint for various initiatives have been set out. He directed the officials from the Horticulture, MESCOM, Agriculture and other departments concerned to begin work at the earliest.
The government having decided to start six schools under the project, an official informed that three new buildings were needed to be built for the purpose while another few buildings needed repair work. Kateel sought detailed reports on the amount of money that could be accumulated under various schemes for the initiative. A part of the funds will be granted by MRPL. Kateel directed the officials to maintain uniform color for all six schools.
In order to foster agriculture, the Agriculture Department has been conducting workshops on organic farming and new methodologies. Hybrid seeds are being supplied to farmers at subsidized rates, an official informed.
Meanwhile, show cause notice was issued to the Lead Bank for not turning up to the meeting despite having received the information beforehand.
A sum of Rs 602 crore being kept aside under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, Kateel directed all Gram Panchayats in the district to conduct a survey on the number of power deprived APL/BPL families and file an online report by preparing DPR, within a week.
