NHAI new project to change face of highway

If all goes well, then the ambitious Surathkal-Kundapur and Nantoor-Thalapady Project of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will take off in September itself. This project of developing a total 90 km of road stretch from Kundapur to Surathkal (75 kms) and from Nanthoor to Talapady (15 km) aims at widening the road and easing out the traffic so that the vehicles, specifically the goods carriers move at 100 km speed.

Giving the overall picture of the project to City Herald, NHAI Project Director Prashanth N Gawasane said that the project is expected to be over by 30 months. The civil work cost is estimated at Rs 674 crore. Another Rs 200 crore has been earmarked for compensation and shifting of the utility. The project will be taken up on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. The project will pass through a total of 63 villages. A total area of 238 hectare private land. All preliminary notification have been done while final notification has been served to 26 villages under the National Highways Act.

The structure

The project will have a bypass of 1.9 km at Mulky and another 3 kms at Padubidri. The Mulky bypass will be on the western side while the Padubidri bypass will be on the eastern side.

The project is divided into two sections. Surathkal-Kundapur is named as Section I while the Nanthoor-Talapady is named the Section II.

Section I will have two vehicular passes, 10 cattle underpass, 10 pedestrian underpass. Six new bridges will be constructed next to the existing 6 major bridges coming under this section. One two-way bridges will be built at Pangala. There are seven minor bridges in this section. Reconstruction of 161 culverts in Section I along with construction of 36 new culverts will be taken up. Section I will have 3 truck temporary parking facilities. As many as 39 bus bays, two toll plazas have been planned in Section I.

Meanwhile, Section II will have two fly overs, one each at Pumpwell and Tokkottu. There will be no vehicular passes in Section II but will have two pedestrian underpass. There are total 9 major bridges in the section including Nethravathi and Thalapady bridge along with three minor bridges. As many as 35 culverts will be reconstructed.

Road over Bridge (ROB) will be put up at Yekkur and one truck bay will be put in this section. As many as 11 bus bays and one toll plaza has been planned.

Hitches

Amidst several oppositions and protests, the land acquisition process is going on. He said that the NHAI has taken all care to plan the path in such a way that educational institutions and religious centres are not affected.

Speaking about Bappanadu Sri Durgaparameshwari temple issue, Gawasane said that the people were initially misinformed that the temple will be eaten away by the project but only a part of the chariot path will be taken away leaving adequate space for the movement of the chariot. Temple will be intact.

Stating that various allegations being lodged against the officials of unnecessarily proposing the width of the road to 60 mts to help real estate dealers, Gawasane said that the project has been planned with a foresight of 30 years.

“The idea behind the project is to facilitate the drivers to take the curves and cover the distance at 100 kms speed without reducing the speed at any point. The project has been implemented after scientific survey and 60 mts road width is necessary. It is not planned with any idea of helping any particular section,” he said. Citing example of the recent mishap in Padubidri, which killed one college student, he said that if the width of the road was wider the student would have not met her end.

Clarification

Gawasane informed that people are often confused about the roads which come under NHAI and tend to make complaints and suggestions about road which does not come under purview of NHAI. Hence, he informed that Surathkal-Nantoor, Nantoor-Padil bypass and Padil-BC Road, summing up to 37.5 km are the only roads coming under NHAI at present.

However, NHAI is sure about the outcome, that the project on completion will surely change the face of the said highway stretch for good.