Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will conduct the groundbreaking ceremony for the works of upgrading the four-lane National Highway 4 into six lanes here on Tuesday.
Pralhad Joshi, MP, told presspersons here on Monday that the Union government had approved works worth ₹3,811 crore to upgrade the Hubballi-Haveri-Davangere-Chitradurga stretch of NH 4 into six lanes. This was a long-pending demand. This particular stretch had remained to be upgraded into six lanes even as the remaining part of the highway was made a six-lane road long ago. Interestingly, the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had rejected the proposal citing technical hitches. However, the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has changed the norms to clear these hitches and allow the works to commence, he said.
Mr. Gadkari will conduct the ceremony near the Jain temple in Gabbur at 5 p.m. He will participate in a public felicitation programme at Nehru Maidan ground at 5.30 p.m.
Neeligin Road
Referring to the delay in the development of Neeligin Road in the city, Mr. Joshi alleged that the district in-charge Minister Vinay Kulkarni was to be blamed.
Of about ₹600 crore Central Road Funds (CRF) money sanctioned for the road development works in the city, a ₹40 crore proposal was finalised to develop the Neeligin Road. However, when the estimate was finalised, the project cost came down to Rs 36 crore. Therefore, it was decided to take up the development of some other stretches of roads in the surroundings using the remaining money. There is the provision to do so in the norms.
“However, to our surprise, the Chief Engineer has written to the National Highway Department saying the proposal has been revised and sought fresh approval for the works. I came to know about this when the National Highway Department officials contacted me. There is no doubt that the Chief Engineer did so at the behest of Mr. Kulkarni, who do not wish to realise this project for the reason that these works fall under the Assembly constituency represented by BJP legislators,” he said.
Mr. Joshi said he has brought this matter to the notice of Mr. Gadkari and assured of discussing the matter with officials and finding ways to ensure the execution of the works was not delayed.
Responding to a question about the poor connectivity in free Wi-Fi zones and complaints against the service provided by the public sector BSNL, Mr. Joshi said he was aware of this issue and called for a meeting of local BSNL officials within three or four days.
