The railways has approved construction of a bridge at Ekkur on the National Highway 17 in the city under phase III of the National Highways Development Project. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) would widen the highway to four lanes between Kundapur-Surathkal and Nanthoor Circle.
The project would cover a 90-km stretch, of which 74 km would be between Kundapur and Surathkal and 16 km between Nanthoor Circle and Talapady.
Prashanth N. Gawasane, Project Director, NHAI, Mangalore, told The Hindu that the railways had approved the general arrangement drawing (GAD) of the bridge to be built near the College of Fisheries.
The GAD was the prerequisite for building the bridge. Approval of the railways for structure design drawing was required before taking up the work. It would be the only overpass between Kundapur and Talpady. Mr. Gawasane said that eight major bridges would be built under the project at Ullal (across the Nethravathi), Pavanje, at Mulky (across the Shambhavi), Udyavara, Pangala, Kalyanapura, Bhadragiri, and Mabukala.
In addition to these bridges, a minor bridge would be built near Talapady. The bridge across the Nethravathi would be 804-m long and 13.1-m wide.
He said the NHAI had invited bids for cutting 18,489 trees as part of the project. It had deposited Rs. 84.22 lakh with the Forest Department as compensatory afforestation to maintain ecological balance. It would transfer 50 per cent of the sale proceeds, that is, profit earned by sale of timber to the Forest Department.
The NHAI and the Navayuga-KPCL Consortium had set up Navayuga Udupi Tollway Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle for implementing the project.
