At least 58,804 passenger vehicles move between Bangalore and Mysore every day, H C Mahadevappa, the Public Works Department (PWD) Minister, said on Friday. The State government spends Rs 2.92 crore annually on maintaining the road between Mysore and Maddur town in Mandya district.
In a series of written replies submitted in the Legislative Assembly on the condition of highways in the State, Mahadevappa said the actual traffic recorded between Bangalore and Mysore was 58,804 passenger vehicles per day. The eight-year contract for maintaining the road between Bangalore and Maddur would end in April 2014, and a fresh tender would be invited, he added. The only money spent by the government on the road was Rs 2.92 crore on maintaining the stretch between Maddur and Mysore.
The minister further said the State had written to the Centre in March 2009, seeking NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) tag for the Bangalore-Mysore state highway but there had been no response as yet. Repeated reminders were also sent, he added.
NHAI officials told Deccan Herald that the State’s requests for NHAI tag for the road would not be considered anytime soon.
166 road humps
There are 166 road humps on the Madikeri-Mysore-Bangalore state highway, according to Mahadevappa. Of them, 138 were as per the standards of the Indian Road Congress; the remaining 28 had been regarded as illegal.