Unwillingness on the part of several land-owners to part with their land appears to have delayed completion of widening of Mangaluru-Solapur National Highway 169 between Karkala and Mala Forest Gate in Karnataka.

Widening of Mangaluru-Solapur National Highway 169 by the NH division of Karnataka PWD between Karkala and Mala Forest Gate has remained incomplete on some stretches.
| Photo Credit:
ANIL KUMAR SASTRY

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had told the Lok Sabha in December last that the 15.2 km stretch of the highway being developed by the National Highways division of the Karnataka Public Works Department would get completed by February-end. He was responding to an unstarred question by Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary.

Of the over 200 property owners whose lands were acquired for widening the highway, 116 owners were yet to submit their documents, claim compensation and part with the land to facilitate the widening, a senior engineer with NH-PWD told The Hindu. Consequently, the four-laning work has remained incomplete in bits and pieces between Pulkeri Junction in Karkala and Mala Forest Gate via Bajagoli. The physical progress has been over 70%, the engineer added.

Bridges completed

The incomplete stretches include two bridges, one near Miyar between Karkala and Bajagoli, and the other at Kadari, between Bajagoli and Mala, both on Swarna river. Though the bridge structures are ready, approach roads could not be constructed as owners are yet to part with their land, the engineer said.

Expecting complete land acquisition, the department had informed the Road Transport Ministry that the project would get completed by February 2025, the engineer confided. The department, in association with the Revenue Department, had even arranged a couple of special camps to disburse compensation at the gram panchayats concerned, he added.

Eviction proceedings

The department anyway could not take up widening work during the rainy season. Once the rains stop, it would urge the district administration to get the lands handed over for the widening work. The Deputy Commissioner may conduct eviction proceedings to hand over the identified lands if the owners did not receive compensation and part with the land.

Four-laning of the 15.2 km stretch between Karkala (Pulkeri Junction) and Mala Forest Gate was sanctioned at an estimated cost of ₹177.94 crore in March 2022. While the stretch between Karkala and Bajagoli witnesses heavy traffic, mainly those destined towards Belthangady and Dharmasthala, the one between Bajagoli and Mala Gate witnesses lesser density of traffic towards Sringeri and Kudremukh.

The National Highways Authority of India has been widening the 45 km stretch between Bikarnakatte at Mangaluru and Karkala of the same NH.