Shiradi Ghat phase II work likely to be taken up after monsoon

District In-charge Minister not in favour of closure of stretch for road work

National Highway Authority of India’s Executive Engineer M O Ramesh said the second phase of the development work on Shiradi Ghat stretch is likely to be taken up after the monsoon.

Speaking at the tri-monthly KDP review meeting, chaired by District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai here on Monday, he said the contractor has not mobilised materials for the road work. “If the work is started now, it cannot be completed before the onset of monsoon,” he said.

Ramesh said the phase II of the road development work on Shiradi Ghat includes 21 kms of asphaltation and 13 kms of concretisation. The work will be taken up at a cost of Rs 85.28 crore.

The rigid pavement (concrete road) will be from Kempuhole to Addahole near Gundya on the Dakshina Kannada border and the asphaltation will be taken up from Maranahalli towards Sakleshpur, he added.

Rai said he is not in favour of closure of the stretch to facilitate the work. There is a need to discuss about carrying out the work without completely closing the stretch, he added.

Sand row

Rai directed DC A B Ibrahim to find out a temporary solution to the sand problem after MLA J R Lobo and MLC Ivan D’Souza threatened to boycott the KDP meeting over sand shortage issue.

Raising the issue, the legislators said there is a delay in applying for clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for sand extraction  in the CRZ area by the officials. The illegal sand transportation to Bengaluru and Kerala is continuing unabated, they claimed.

They said construction activities have come to a standstill without the availability of sand from February and threatened to boycott the meeting if it fails to address the issue.

Health Minister U T Khader said the meeting has the power to offer a temporary solution to the problem. After exchange of words among the minister, the MLA and the MLC, the minister directed the DC to find a temporary solution for the problem within the framework of the law.

Earlier, the DC said work order to extract sand and transport it to stockyard of PWD stock yard has been issued to five blocks. Once the contractors transport sand to the stockyard, the sand will be available for the public.

A sand block at Arkula in Mangaluru has been earmarked for the city corporation to utilise it for the development works while another block at Uppinangady has been allotted to zilla panchayat to ensure that development works are not affected. A short tender has been invited for the remaining 29 sand blocks. The last date for submitting tender is March 23, he added.

The minister said the officials should ensure that there is no water shortage in the district. The Taluk Task Force should convene a meeting and make a list of areas facing acute shortage of water. The deputy commissioner should take measure to solve the crisis, he said.

Zilla panchayat CEO P I Sreevidya said contingency plan has been prepared to overcome water crisis in taluks. The deputy commissioner said there is no shortage of funds for the works related to water supply.

Rai directed the officials to suspend the title deeds of beneficiaries who have failed to reside on the land sanctioned by the government after two years of sanctioning. After one week of issuing notice to the beneficiary, the title deeds can be suspended and the land can be granted to other beneficiary, he added.

Additional DC Kumar said a total of 54,393 applications have been received under 94C of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act to regularise the encroached government land. Around 7,837 applications have been cleared. Tahsildars have been directed to clear the applications by visiting each gram panchayat, he said.