Construction of a bypass on the Shiradi Ghat stretch on the Bangalore-Mangalore National Highway may take off only after a year as the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is unable to source funding for the project.
The Ministry is keen on the project considering the importance of the link between the State capital and the harbour town. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which was approached to fund the project, has said that it will be unable to do so this financial year, sources in the Ministry told The Hindu.
“Nevertheless, we are planning to urge them to fund the project at least next year,” they said and added that a meeting will be held shortly. The Ministry cannot take up the project because of the high costs, they said.
The construction of the bypass was mooted by the State government when the current Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda was the Chief Minister.
Sources in the State Public Works Department told The Hindu that the government had forwarded the proposal to MoRTH as it could not take up the project.
Sources in the National Highways Authority (NHAI) too said they would not implement the project.
Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha member Nalin Kumar Kateel told The Hindu that he will take up the issue with the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari shortly. He said the Minister had promised to call a meeting of MPs from Karnataka regarding projects in the State. He would also urge the Minister to prioritise the project. The bypass is expected to cause minimal damage to the fragile ecology of the Western Ghats with proposed tunnels and bridges. It will also reduce the travel time, from the present one hour to less than 30 minutes, on the Ghat stretch.
Sources in NHAI said that they has already prepared a detailed project report to make the National Highway between Hassan and B.C. Road, including the Ghat stretch, a four-lane affair. They have already made the highway between Nelamangala and Hassan, a four-lane one. Land was being acquired in Hassan district and the Authority will have to seek environmental clearance for the task, they said.
