Mani-Sampaje road works at snail's pace

With number of obstacles hindering the work’s progress, the half completed road is more likely to create chaos during the rainy season.

The KRDCL took up the task of uplifting Kushalnagar-Mani State Highway in three phases. The road work between Mysore-Kushalnagar was completed years back and the road is hassle-free now. The second phase of the project was the development of Kushalnagar-Madikeri road (60.20 km) at an estimated cost of Rs 101 crore. The contract has been given to RNN Constructions of Hubli who have completed the work between Kushalnagar-Madikeri and the repair of Madikeri-Sampaje road is under progress.

Though the Madikeri-Sampaje road work was supposed to complete by April 30, the work would not be completed within the stipulated time as the work of only 12 km road out of 28 km has been completed now. According to the RNN Construction Company Engineer Shiv Prakash, the company will complete 16 km road by April 30 and the rest of the work will be started only after December.

But the road construction work between Mani-Sampaje under phase III is actually the matter of concern as the unsystematic construction work has created a whole lot of mess everywhere. KRDCL has given the contract of this road repair to a Hyderabad based KMC Constructions. The work order was issued to the company in April 2010 and the contractor was asked to complete the work by June 2012. With the contractor completing only 10.5 km (only one side of the road) work till date, there are hardly any chances of the work being completed on time.

When asked the KMC Constructions Chief Project Manager Riyaz Ahmed about the reason for the delay, he said there are handful problems faced by the Company. “The KRDCL delayed in depositing Rs 1.4 crore to the Forest Department for gaining permission to cut the trees on the roadside. The KRDCL paid the amount only three months back and now we have to fell as many as 2,000 trees for forest clearance,” he said.

Attributing another reason for the slow progress of work, on the land acquisition problem, he said the public have approached the court with regard to the land acquisition and so we are not in a position to touch the road stretching for about 35 km, until the case is solved in the court.

He also said that the Supreme Court’s ban order on gravel crushing has led to the shortage of gravels required for the road construction.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, KRDCL Assistant Executive Engineer Manjunath informed that the initial hiccups will be solved in the days to come. “We have asked the contractors to complete the work on time,” he said.

However, the general public in Sullia are worried over the mess that has been created in their region. “Didn’t the KRDCL know about the problems when they called for tender three years back? Why did they order the contractors to start the work without acquiring the land and receiving permission from the Forest Department?” questions Sullia Chamber of Commerce President M B Sadashiva.