The Government has completed the process of issuing preliminary notification for acquiring properties in 63 villages in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts for the Kundapur-Talapady four-lane highway project, according to official sources.
The notification is yet to be published for acquisition in one village in Udupi district, they said.
However, the final notification has been issued in only six villages, located between Mulky and Surathkal in Dakshina Kannada. As a result, there is a delay in beginning work on the project, sources said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The NHAI last year adopted a policy of not taking up any project before the State Government completes the issuance of final notification to 80 per cent of properties to be taken over. It also expects the State Government to complete the preliminary notification process for the remaining 20 per cent of properties, the sources said.
A new bridge, parallel to the existing one, will come up across the Netravati on National Highway 17 at Jeppinamogaru under the project. It will be 804 m long and 13.1 m wide. “Soil exploration for constructing the bridge has begun,” sources said.
An official at the Mangalore Division of the State National Highways (a wing of the Public Works Department) said that the existing bridge across the river was constructed in 1965.
ADVERTISEMENT
Project
The four-lane project being taken up by the NHAI is estimated to cost Rs. 674 crore. It will be taken up under Phase 3 of the National Highways Development Project on build, operate and transfer basis. The Navayuga-KPCL consortium, a Hyderabad-based company, has bagged the contract.According to it, the 90-km stretch between Kundapur and Surathkal and Nanthoor and Talapady on the NH 17 will be widened.
Sources said that the NHAI and the Navayuga-KPCL consortium had set up Navayuga Udupi Tollway Pvt Ltd., a special purpose vehicle for implementing the project.