The Hindu Business Line : Convert Mangalore-Hassan highway into 4-lane: Govt

The Karnataka Government has requested the Union Government to convert Mangalore-Hassan stretch of National Highway No. 48 into four-lane. This will help provide good port connectivity between New Mangalore Port and the hinterland, according to Mr H.D. Revanna, Karnataka Minister for Public Works and Power.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr Revanna said that he and the Chief Minister, Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy, had met the Union Minister for Shipping and Surface Transport, Mr T.R. Baalu, in this regard.

During their meeting with Mr Baalu, they had also submitted a Rs 100-crore proposal to the Union Minister to concrete a 40-km-stretch of road at Shirady Ghat on NH 48. The proposal was based on a report submitted by the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Concreting work

Stating that the Union Government had agreed to sanction Rs 7 crore for concreting work, he said that amount would not help in concreting the 40-km-stretch of highway. The Minister said that he would again meet Mr Baalu and request for Rs 100 crore for the work.

"The Karnataka Government is ready to concrete 40-km-stretch at Shirady Ghat, if the Union Government agrees to hand over the road to the State Government," he said. On widening of the road between Mysore and B.C. Road Town, he said nearly 40 per cent of the work had been completed up to Kushalnagar from Mysore.

Tenders will be called for work between Sampaje and B.C. Road soon on that project. The total project cost is estimated at Rs 300 crore.

Asked about the pending dues of various urban and rural local bodies to the electricity supply companies, he said efforts were on to collect the dues.

Of the Rs 750-crore dues, nearly Rs 200 crore has been collected so far.

He will write to the Minister concerned on the pending dues, Mr Revanna added.