Udupi-Chikkamagaluru LS constituency gets share of Gadkari's road development pie for Karnataka

UDUPI: Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency got its fair share of the Rs 10,904-crore pie expended by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) in laying the foundation stone and dedication to nation of 33 national highway projects across Karnataka on Saturday. While three of these projects will be executed by the national highway wing of PWD, the fourth was dedication of four-laning of Goa-Karnataka border to Kundapur section.
Member of Parliament Shobha Karandlaje who hailed the bounty that union minister Nitin Gadkari gave to Karnataka at the virtual dedication and foundation stone laying ceremony, said nearly 30-kms of NH is being built each day under the NDA government as against 12-km under the previous UPA regime. The dedication of the 41-km stretch from Shiroor to Kundapur under the Goa-Karnataka border project will be a game changer, she said.
The NH wing will take up widening of NH 169 to a 2-lane stretch with paved shoulder from Gadikallu to SK border in Chikkamagaluru district at a cost of Rs 96.08-crore. It will also provide permanent restoration to valley side slips from kms 86.20 to 99.20 along Charmadi Ghat at a cost of Rs 19.36 crore. Three minor bridges between kms 26.05 to 28.14 on NH 169A between Agumbe and Malpe will be reconstructed at a cost of Rs 8.20 crore.
Incidentally, MoRTH has spent Rs 2638 crore on four-laning 187-kms between Goa and Karnataka border up to Kundapur section from kms 93.70-283.30. The concessionaire – M/s IRB Westcoast Tollway Ltd, Mumbai received provisional commercial operating date on January 31 for 141-kms and another 41-kms as on date, Shobha said. The balance work is likely to be completed by December 31, 2021, MoRTH stated in its project brochure.