Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Nov 9: The previous tender sanctioned for widening of national highway 75 between Mangaluru and Bengaluru stands truncated and terminated. A fresh tender has to be floated by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and work has to be undertaken afresh. The authority expects tender process to begin within three months and works to begin by September next year.

NHAI had set aside Rs 400 crore for widening 55 km road between Hassan and Marnahalli, and Rs 821 crore for developing the road between B C Road and Addahole. Tender had been floated in 2017 and work had begun. The company which had bagged the contract had begun work two years back and dug out roadsides. Work on culverts was also taken up simultaneously. But land acquisition work created problems as land in between belongs to forest department. For completing this process, about Rs 150 crore was needed but this amount had not been included in the tender. Therefore, NHAI plans to call for tender again by including this cost, it is said.

File photo

In the meanwhile, The 'Save NH 75' twitter campaign continued on Friday. A large number of people have been urging for repair of this badly damaged road, and many have tagged the Prime Minister, highways minister, Yediyurappa, MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel and others. Kateel said that emergency works would be taken up on the road within a few days, and NHAI officials have been asked to undertake this work immediately.