Following a spate of protests by various organisations demanding repair and upgrading of the Hassan-Chiknayakanahalli stetch, which has been in bad state for many years, the Department of Public Works has taken up the repair of a 26-km stretch between Hassan and Gandasi Handpost in Arsikere taluk at a cost of Rs. 14 crore. The department has assigned the work to DRN Construction Company.
According to a communiqué from the district administration issued here on Saturday, the repair work would start in a couple of days. The company had already identified the sites for dumping the raw materials and machinery. Of the 72-km road, the stretch between Hassan and Gandasi Handpost is in a very bad condition. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation had cut down its services on the road, affecting the students who used to regularly travel on it to go to their schools and colleges. Understanding the gravity of the situation, the government decided to take up the work.
The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. had entrusted the work of upgrading the 72-km Hassan-Chiknayakanahalli road to Abhijit Constructions at a cost of Rs. 242 crore under design-build-own-and-transfer model. The company had started the work in Janauary 2012. However, it did not carry on with the work at the expected pace and eventually stopped it. The company lost interest in the project as the number of vehicles plying on the road came down owing to ban on mining activities in Bellary. As per the initial agreement, the company could collect toll from vehicle-users for 30 years.
Many organisations staged protests demanding upgrading of the road in last two years. People continued to put pressure on Minister for Public Works H.C. Mahadevappa, who is also in-charge of Hassan, to address the problem. During his visit to Hassan on August 15, Mr. Mahadevappa spoke to protesters, who were staging “rasta-roko” protest on the National Highway, and assured them that he would take steps to restart the work within a month.
