The ambitious project of four-laning the NH-17 and NH-48 stretches between Surathkal and B C Road, has got momentum with the initial hiccups in accelerating the physical works, getting cleared, though not completely.
Though the percentage of the total progress achieved so far in this regard seems to be minute (11 % in all), the proportion covered in the past two months, that is, 4 per cent can be termed ‘significant’ compared to the total time consumed for the previous 7 per cent.
The work of four-laning had, in fact, commenced on June 16, 2005, though it was formally inaugurated on October 6 when the Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyappa laid the foundation stone.
 The target period allotted to complete the project was 30 months or two-and-a-half years, according to which the works should be finished by December 2007.
Let the matter of completing the project be aside, people had the doubt whether at least a small percentage of work would be achieved within the stipulated period, by seeing the snail’s pace of the entire mechanism in the past two years. Surprising their assumptions, the agencies responsible for the project have accelerated the works in the recent days by coming out of the impediments.
Progress so far
The major hiccup in commencing the work was the problem in acquiring the land required for  four-laning. Sources in the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the implementing authority of the project, said the project required a total of 24 acres of land (15 acres private and 8.8 acres government) for widening the road, which came under 15 villages.
“Land in 11 villages has been cleared from the land acquisition officer. Valuation is going on in the remaining 4 villages,” said the sources, who also added that there would be a need for some more land, other than the specified.
Another major blockade in the project, the delay in shifting the underground and overhead utilities, is also getting cleared, though in a slower pace.
 In fact, the major portion of the valuable period was swallowed by the blame-game between various agencies, and the delay had been attributed to the non-completion of works by Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) Ltd, in the specified time limit.
As per the fresh statistics available with the NHAI, MCC has cleared shifting the underground utilities on NH 17, except along the stretch of 1 km. However, the works are over only for 2 kms on NH 48, between Brahmarakootlu and Padil, which are yet to be commissioned.
Mescom has completed 73 per cent of the work in shifting cables out of the 15 estimates submitted so far.
Two more estimates (Rs 3.7 crore) have also been submitted of late, but the NHAI has asked it to reconsider them, sources informed. Further, regarding the telephone cables, though private operators have finished shifting their cables, it is the government agency that is lagging behind, the officials noted.
M/s IRCON International Ltd, the executing agency of this multi-crore project, has already started constructing 3 out of the 5 flyovers.
 “All 96 piles have been completed at Kottara Chowki, while 23 out of 32 piles in Maroli and 13 out of 80 piles in B C Road have been completed so far,” the sources explained.
Highly advanced machines have been brought for the work. Even all the hot mixing plants are computerised with digital control to monitor the quality. Progress has also been achieved in road embankment construction and laying 5 minor bridges. However, as the IRCON officials feel, they cannot take up the work of embankment unless at least 2 km stretch is provided to them at a single length.