Mysuru: Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha has urged Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Highways and Road Transport, to rename the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway as the ‘Cauvery Expressway’ after the Yamuna and Ganga Expressways (both in Uttar Pradesh) and the Narmada Expressway (in Madhya Pradesh).
The Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, a 119 km, ten-lane highway, is expected to reduce the distance between the two cities’ travel times to just 90 minutes. Simha met with Gadkari on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum urging him to take into consideration renaming the road to the Cauvery while keeping in mind the emotions of the people toward the river.
In the letter to the Union Minister, Simha stated, “Known to devout Hindus as Dakshina Ganga, the Cauvery river is celebrated for its serenity and sanctity and its entire course of 765 km in states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is considered holy ground.”
He further added that the Cauvery river is also important for its irrigation canal projects. “Major citizens, including historians, have urged me to impress upon the government to name it as ‘Cauvery Expressway’ in reverence to one of the holiest rivers in the country which rises on Brahmagiri hills of the Western Ghats in the district of Kodagu, a part of my constituency,” he added.
