Welcoming the Union Government’s approval for widening the NH-4 bypass between Hubballi and Dharwad into a six-lane road, KPCCmedia analyst Pandurang Neeralakeri has demanded measures to complete the roadworks within the set deadline.
Addressing presspersons in Dharwad on Saturday, Mr. Neeralakeri termed the move as a good development as the bypass had become a sort of deathtrap and had claimed several lives.The Hubballi-Dharwad bypass is a two-lane road, which connects six-lane national highway on either side.
He said long-pending demand for road-widening between Narendra Toll Gate near Dharwad and Gabbur Cross on the outskirts of Hubballi had been finally met, after countless memoranda and several protests and scores of accidents on the stretch claiming several lives.
A sum of ₹1,200 crore has been sanctioned for the road-widening project which includes laying of two-lane service roads on either side of the national highway.
Referring to a statement by the Ministry of Highways and Road Transport that the project would be completed within 30 months, Mr. Neeralakeri urged the authorities to take all steps to ensure that the project was completed within the deadline.
He urged the National Highways Authority of India, the executing agency of the project, to take it up ata fast pace and also ensure quality work.The authorities should also take steps to facilitate smooth movement of vehicles, bullock carts, and cattle by constructing underpasses and interchanges so that residents of the villages located on either side of the highway were not affected.
