Centre Agrees to Release Rs 100 cr for concrete work on Shiradi Ghat Section
Form Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
BANGALORE, JUN 22: THE 37-kms long stretch of Shiradi ghat section in the Western Ghats section, an important link in the widely used Bangalore-Mangalore national highway, will finally get a lasting facelift with the Centre agreeing to release Rs 100 crore bonanza for cement concrete work.
This was disclosed by Karnataka’s public works minister C M Udasi on Monday.
The union road transport and highways ministry has agreed to release the grant for taking up works, which would certainly redeem the National Highway 48.
The minister said the union ministry has given in principle clearance for the State Government’s Rs 100 crore proposal for laying concrete road in the ghat section.
The Shiradi Ghat section, which suffered heavy damages due to heavy monsoon in the Western Ghats along with the plying of thousands of trucks from different parts of Karnataka carrying iron ore, granite and petroleum tankers to the Mangalore port, had to be banned for traffic. The hundreds of buses between Bangalore and Mangalore plying on the road on a daily basis had to be diverted from the narrow Charmadi ghat section or via Madikeri in Kodagu district.
After a hue and cry by the road users in Bangalore, Hassan and Mangalore over the inconvenience due to the damages, the Shiradi ghat section was repaired during the H D Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-BJP coalition regime with the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre agreeing to release funds for the works. However, the repairs did not last long enough and the Shiradi ghat section suffered further damages again due to monsoon and movement of heavy vehicles.
It may be recalled that the matter figured at the Karnataka High Court, which directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged irregularities in the repair of the Shiradi Ghat section (between Sakleshpur and Uppinangadi) of the National Highway 48. The CBI was asked to probe the irregularities taking the assistance of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and technical experts from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
The repairs were taken up afresh after the High Court’s interevention and public transport as well as good transport vehicles were allowed to ply again. But the Shiradi ghat section suffered further damages even before the commencement of monsoon season this year. In fact, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has again discontinued plying of its high-end Volvo buses operating under the Airavatha brand, which have now been diverted via Madikeri.
With the Centre’s offer to release Rs 100 crore for laying concrete cement work, which is expected to be taken up
soon after the current monsoon season, the Shiradi ghat section on the Bangalore-Mangalore national highway is expected to be free of damages. Incidentally, the government had also submitted a detailed proposal for widening the ghat section and removing or straightening many of the sharp curves.
Udasi also said the state government has released Rs 230 crore for development of roads in 114 backward taluks identified by the High Power Committee for Redressal of Regional Imbalances based on the report of late economic D M Nanjundappa. Of this, Rs 200 crore has been released for development of roads in 200 Legislative Assembly constituencies.
The state public works department has prepared a proposal for construction of four lane road between Mysore and Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district on the public-private partnership, the minister said.
He, however, rejected an allegation by JD(S) legislature party leader and former public works minister H D Revanna that the government had failed to utilise the World Bank funded Rs 800 crore loan assistance for development of roads. There was some delay in the approval of Rs 6,246 crore loan by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for executing the proposed 3,411 km State roads under the Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project II (KSHIP-II), he explained.
The minister said the government awaited the Lokayukta probe report into the allegations of irregularities that had taken place in awarding Hassan ring road project and recruitment of engineers during the tenure of Revanna as state’s PWD minister during the JD(S)-BJP coalition regime, when present chief minister B S Yeddyurappa was deputy chief minister cum finance minister.