Union Minister for Corporate Affairs M. Veerappa Moily said here on Sunday that there was an urgent need to resolve land-related issues pertaining to widening of the national highways in Dakshina Kannada.
Mr. Moily was referring to land-related issues which came up while building flyovers at Surathkal, Kuloor, Nanthoor, Maroli (Kulashekar) and B.C. Road while widening the three highways under the Port Connectivity Project taken up by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Addressing presspersons, Mr Moily said that in States such as Goa, the NHAI had withdrawn from highway widening projects due to land-related issues and opposition from people for land acquisition. “This should not happen in Karnataka,” he said.
Earlier, he reviewed the progress achieved in widening of highways with officials of NHAI.
The Minister told presspersons that the flyover at Kuloor would be ready by November-end. The flyovers at Surathkal and Maroli (Kulashekar) would be completed by year-end, he added.
He said that tenders had been invited for constructing a railway overpass at Baikampady and railway underpasses at Padil and B.C. Road. Mr. Moily said that the Union Planning Commission was examining a proposal to widen the National Highway 66 between Kundapura and the Goa border near Karwar.
Mr. Moily said that the aim of the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill was to ensure no violence took place in the name of community or religion, and not to curb the powers of the State governments.
Sometimes, the State governments had a biased attitude, he said.
