Work on the four-lane Highway between Mysuru and Kushalnagar will start in a month, said Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha. He was participating in a District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting at Madikeri yesterday.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already launched the Rs. 4,130 crore project to lay a 93-km-long Highway between Mysuru and Kushalnagar and works will begin in a month. Tenders have been awarded and it will be constructed in two packages — from Srirangapatna to Periyapatna and Periyapatna to Guddehosur,” he said.
The access-controlled Highway will begin at Paschimavahini in Srirangapatna and end near Guddehosur. It will run parallel to existing NH-275, he added.
The MP asked officials to identify accident spots on the Kushalnagar-Sampaje route. Officers and engineers from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) must visit such places and take corrective measures to prevent accidents.
Highlighting the cracks that have appeared on the Kurthoji Hill near Madenadu that stands right above the Madikeri-Mangaluru Highway, the MP said that there are chances of landslides and a retaining wall might solve the problem. He asked the officers to do soil testing and a feasibility study in coordination with geology experts to ascertain what measures could be taken to prevent the blockage of the NH.
Newly-elected Virajpet MLA A.S. Ponnanna asked the engineers to repair the roads that were damaged due to heavy rains since the last four years and ensure that movement of traffic on the Highways is not affected, especially in the light of monsoon arrival in the next couple of days. He particularly mentioned the roads that pass through Madenadu and flooding near Koynadu.
Addressing the meeting, Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Dr. B.C. Satish said that the District Administration is geared up to face monsoon and instructions have been passed onto disaster management teams both at district and taluk levels to handle the situation in case of rains, flooding and landslides.
MLC Bhojegowda raised the issue of the substandard construction of the retaining wall of Kodagu DC’s Office and asked the officers to blacklist the contractor and also the consulting agencies who had suggested such an unreliable technology especially when there are chances of landslides. He also demanded action against those responsible for the present state of affairs of the work for which Rs. 7.5 crore was spent.
The MLC also asked the officers to complete the works of the bridge at Bhagamandala and enable traffic movement. The bridge has been sanctioned to prevent roadblocks on the stretch during the rainy seasons but as the works have been inordinately delayed, the public are facing a lot of inconvenience, he added.
MLC Suja Kushalappa said that the district is facing a shortage of jelly stones that usually come from Kerala and as such, many housing projects have been delayed. Ponnanna asked the officers to open a temporary Anganwadi at Nagarahole for the children of tribals who are deprived of education.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Dr. Nanjundegowda, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sundarraj, DFO Shivaram Babu, Assistant Commissioner Dr. Yathish Ullal, Zilla Panchayat (ZP) CEO Dr. S. Akash and other officers were present.
