'Chikmagalur roads to be widened'

Speaking at a meeting with the building owners, he said the Deputy Commissioner will inspect the road either on February 26 or 27 before taking a final decision on road widening. The building owners have suggested to widen the road by 50 feet. However, the district administration has decided to widen the road by 60 feet.

He said talks will be held with the Deputy Commissioner to see that no injustice is meted out to the building owners. A sum of Rs 4 crore has been earmarked for widening. The work on road will be completed from funds from Central Road Development Corporation. The work on drainage will be undertaken under CMC’s KMRP project, he added.

As per the norms of National Highway, in 70 feet wide road, 50 feet must be road and 20 feet must be left for setback, said PWD Engineer Made Gowda. If one goes by the rules, then the authorities will have to pay compensation for land acuqisition. Dr D L Vijaykumar said there are few own houses in Rathnagiri road. Few will lose land. There is no need for widening the road again and again. The decision should be taken in such a way that it will benefit the building owners.

As many as 162 persons reside by the roadside. Of which, 76 persons have encroached the land, said CMC engineer Tejamurthy.

Venkatesh Naidu said without giving any scope for confusion, there is a need to widen road from Syndicate Bank to Town Canteen while widening road from R G Road.

The MLA said that the building owners will be taken to confidence before widening the road. If the owners fail to cooperate, then the district administration will vacate the building, for which the expenditure would have to be borne by the owners, he added.