SHIVAMOGGA: Amid the controversy over alleged protocol violation and boycott of the programme by state ministers and legislators, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the country’s second longest, and the state’s longest, cable-stayed bridge across the Sharavathi backwaters on Monday. Constructed at a cost of Rs 473crore, it stretches for 2.44km between Ambaragodlu and Kalasavalli villages in Sagar taluk of Shivamogga district.
Naming the new bridge after Goddess Sigandoor Chowdeshwari, Gadkari listed out highway projects taken up and planned in the state, and said these projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore, will be completed by the end of the Union government’s tenure. He also launched and laid foundation stones for nine national highway projects worth Rs 2,041 crore.
Gadkari said Karnataka now has nearly 9,000km of national highways. Projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore are under way, and the government plans to take up additional projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore in the next five years.
He said there are plans to connect districts to the national highway network. “New roads are being developed to support Karnataka’s growth. A four-lane highway between Hassan and Raichur is expected to be completed by December this year, reducing travel time. The new highway between Bengaluru and Chennai is ready and will be inaugurated in six months,” he said.
Gadkari said the highway between Hubballi and Dharwad is 70 per cent complete and will be finished by March next year, reducing travel time between the twin cities to 15 minutes. “Road work in Mysuru-Madikeri and Shiradi Ghat is also in progress,” he said.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that earlier, only 7-8 km of highways were built daily, but under PM Modi’s leadership, the pace has increased to 34km per day.
PROJECTS DEDICATED TO NATION
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2/4 lane plus paved shoulders of Bidar-Humnabad stretch of NH-50 (Rs 345 crore, 47.03km)
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4-lane ROB and 2-lane major bridge on NH-150 between Kalaburagi and Yadgir (Rs 65 crore, 2.57km)
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7 minor bridges from Mani to Sampaje on NH-275 (Rs 52 crore, 2.94km)
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Permanent restoration work on Shiradi Ghat section of NH-75 (Rs 41 crore)
2-lane with paved shoulders on NH-367 from Bhanapur to Gaddanakeri (Rs 173 crore, 25.07km)
FOUNDATION STONES LAID FOR
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4-lane ROB at Wadi on NH-150 (Rs 88 crore)
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Retaining wall from Sampaje to Kushalnagar on NH-275 (Rs 94 crore, 1.91km)
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Additional safety work on 6-lane access-controlled section of NH-275 (Bengaluru-Mysuru) under Hybrid Annuity Model (Rs 712 crore, 2.017km)