The Hindu / Raviprasad Kamila

• Committee formed to look into factors causing delay
• Pipes piled next to NH 48 are obstructing work
• NHAI faces severe shortage of manpower  

Mangalore, Nov 22: Multiple problems appear to have impeded the work on the four-laning of national highways 17 and 48 from Suratkal to B. C. Road in Dakshina Kannada.
 
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is in charge of this Rs 196.50-crore project covering a distance of 37.5 km between Suratkal and Mangalore on NH 17 and between Mangalore and B C Road on NH 48.

The work was allotted to an agency that was the lowest bidder in the second global tender called by the NHAI.

K H Muniyappa, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, formally laid the foundation stone for the project on October 6, 2005. But according to the NHAI it commenced on June 16, 2005 as per the contract agreement.

It is a year since the work on the project began. The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) recently constituted People's Action Committee on National Highways to look into factors that are delaying the four-lane project.

Reasons for delay

According to Prakash Kalbavi, member of the committee, members of the club and committee interacted with NHAI and other authorities recently and found out the reasons for the delay.

Kalbavi said it was found that the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (MESCOM) had not shifted its electricity poles that were hampering the work on highways. At the same time Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has not shifted its telephone lines.

The NHAI deposited Rs 2.85 crore with the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) in 2004 for shifting water supply pipelines adjacent to the highways. The MCC has completed only 25 per cent of the job in this regard. Under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has taken up work on laying of huge pipes from Thumbay to Mangalore to supply drinking water. This has come in the way of widening NH 48.

The KUIDFC has piled up unlaid pipes adjacent to NH 48. These pipes are obstructing the highway project as KUIDFC authorities are refusing to shift them.

Repair Work

With regard to repair of the highways the NHAI authorities say since they have handed over the highways to the agency executing the project it was the agency's responsibility to repair them. The NHAI says that it is facing severe shortage of manpower. The agency that has been awarded contract has only 41 workers to take up repair work on the 37-km stretch. It requires another 150 workers.