The Hindu 

Udupi, Nov 2: Bisse Gowda, chief engineer of National Highways department, and members of the Save National Highway 17 Committee inspected the condition of National Highway 17 in Udupi district on Thursday.

The inspection was undertaken as the committee had at a meeting on Wednesday insisted that Mr. Gowda should see for himself the pathetic state of the road. The committee members and Mr. Gowda left the Inspection Bungalow in Udupi at 6.45 a.m. by bus to Kundapur. On the way they stopped at Kallianpur, Brahmavar, and Sasthan where the committee members showed the condition of the stretch to Mr. Gowda.

Speaking at Saligrama, Mr. Gowda said that the condition of NH 17 had worsened owing to the heavy rain in the last four months. The potholes would be filled by the December end. A proposal to repair the critical reaches on the stretch had been sent to the Centre, he said and added that a report would be submitted to State Government. The department had already submitted a proposal for relaying the 107-km stretch on NH 17 in Udupi district to the Finance and Planning Department for approval and it would take about two months to hear from them. A detailed project report on four-laning work of NH 17 from Kundapur in Udupi district to Goa was being prepared.

The four-laning work from Surathkal in Dakshina Kannada district to Kundapur would be started in a year. The state of highways in Karnataka, including those connecting Hubli with Bijapur, Ankola with Bellary, the Shirady Ghat stretch was poor owing to rain, Mr. Gowda said.