NHAI proposes six-lane bridge at Kuloor

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has proposed to construct a six-lane bridge across the Gurupura river at Kuloor on NH 66.

An official from the NHAI said that the estimated cost of the project is between Rs 50 crore and Rs 60 crore.

He spoke at the Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting chaired by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel at the Nethravathi Hall of the Zilla Panchayat on Monday.

“In the first phase, the work on the three-lane bridge will be taken up. After the completion of the three-lane bridge and opening it for traffic, the old bridge at Kuloor will be demolished to facilitate another three-lane bridge,” said the officer.

Maintenance of NH

The official added that the road from Surathkal to B C Road via Nanthoor and Padil will be asphalted at a cost of Rs 24 crore.

“Although the length of the road is 37 km, the reasphalt work will be taken up on the 25-km stretch. The 4-km stretch from Baikampady to Kudremukh Junction in Panambur had already been asphalted while the road from Arkula to Kannur will not be taken up. The tender will be opened on March 5 and if everything goes as per plan, the asphalt work will be taken up from April 1,” the official explained.

Alignment report

The official said the alignment report approved by the district administration on the four-laning of the Mulki – Thokkottu route via Kateel and Melkar has been submitted to NHAI higher authorities.

“Once the report is approved, preliminary notification will be issued for land acquisition. As many as 91 villages have been notified. We have submitted two proposals of the Mulki – Thokkottu route as well as the Mulki – Someshwara route via Kateel, Melkar and Asaigoli. It is left to the higher authorities to finalise one of the proposals,” he added.

The official said that the DPR on the Mangaluru City bypass from Baikampady to Kudremukh Junction in Panambur is in progress under the Bharatmala project. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 299 crore.

Samson, NHAI project director, alleged that, due to the change of design and delay by the local administration, the work on Pumpwell flyover as per the design started only in the year 2016. Now, however, the Navyug Construction Company, the contractor for the NH 66 four-lane work, is facing financial constraint to complete the work, he added.

Linge Gowda, Hassan NHAI project director, said that although the four-laning of the NH 75 between B C Road and Addahole has been restarted, it has not picked up pace as per the expectation.

The representative from L&T said that the work on 27 culverts and two minor bridges will be completed before the monsoon and full-fledged work will be initiated after the monsoon.

Permanent solution

Subbarama Holla, NH Mangaluru Division executive engineer, said that IISc retired professor D R Srinivas Murthy had inspected the damaged portion of the Shiradi Ghat stretch during the rainy season recently and had suggested to take up soil nailing and micro piles work as a permanent restoration work.

Accordingly, a proposal has been submitted to Union Ministry of Road Transport for approval. The work on three bridges at Manihalla, Nidugallu and Charmadi on NH 234 has been initiated. The work on felling trees to widen the road from B C Road to Poonjalkatte has been received and the works are in progress, said the Holla.

The MP took the NH executive engineer to task for not following protocol while initiating the work on national highway.

MP warns of stopping toll

Nalin Kumar Kateel directed the NHAI official to accelerate the work on asphalting the service road on both the sides at Pumpwell Junction – from Karnataka Bank headquarters to Ekkur – by widening the road within a week.

“If the work fails to accelerate within a week, I will forcibly stop the collection of the toll and let the police register a case against me,” he warned.