Rajya Sabha member and former Union Minister Oscar Fernandes on Saturday laid the foundation stone for improving the connecting road to the district court complex here in the presence of Minister for Public Works H.C. Mahadevappa and others.
Mangaluru South MLA J.R. Lobo, who diverted the entire Rs. 8 crore PWD grant to his constituency for the road, said the 8-storied new court complex was inaugurated on his promise to get the approach road widened. Otherwise, the building would not have got the fire clearance from the Fire and Emergency Services Department, he said. Along with Rs. 8 crore MLA fund, the PWD too pooled in another Rs. 3 crore required for the project, he said.
Giving details about the project, PWD’s Superintending Engineer B.T. Kantharaj said about 350 mts of road from Kudmul Ranga Rao Road to the court complex would be widened up to 12 mts. While the road would be built with concrete for 9-mt width with two lanes, there would also be wide footpaths, he said.
Since the road has to be improved on a hillock below the court building, the department would deploy soil-nailing technology. In this process, about 20 mm thick steel rods would be driven into the soil embankment up to 10 mt depth or till hard soil is reached, after which concrete grouting would be done. Thereafter, a thin retaining wall would be built to prevent earth from caving in, Mr. Kantharaj said. He said the work is likely to be completed in a year and a half.
The department, however, appears not to have any immediate proposal to widen the stretch of the road from court complex to K.S. Rao Road.
District in-charge Minister B. Ramanath Rai, MLC Ivan D’Souza, Mayor Jasnta Vijaya Alfred, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim and others were present.
