The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has said that the Government is planning to build a six-lane road on Shirady ghat stretch of National Highway no. 75 connecting Mangaluru and Bengaluru.

Speaking at the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of 15 projects of National Highway worth ₹3,163 core in Mangaluru on Monday evening, he said Shirady ghat is the lifeline of Karnataka and Kerala. New Mangalore Port is finding it difficult to use its full potential because of the bottleneck at Shirady ghat.

He said the present 26-km two-lane road on Shirady ghat stretch would be converted to a four-lane highway. He has already held discussion on this with the Karnataka Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary and with the officials of the Forest Department for widening the road to four-lane one. The work will be completed on the priority basis, he said.

Stating that there was a proposal to construct a tunnel on Shirady ghat stretch, Gadkari said an Austrian agency has already done a study on the six-lane tunnel project. Apart from this, experts from his ministry also conducted a study on implementing it. This project, which will have seven tunnels and seven bridges, is estimated to cost ₹14,000 crore.

The DPR on this project will be completed soon and the clearance from the Forest and Environment Ministry will be sought for this. Seeking the Karnataka Chief Minister’s support for implementing this project, he said the Centre will start work on this project once getting all the required clearances.

The Karnataka Chief Minister, Basavaraja Bommai, and the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, spoke on the occasion.

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