Mangalore: Proposed Ring Road around City - will it Ring in a New Era?
by Richie Lasrado
Resident Editor
Daijiworld.com
Mangalore
July 19, 2007
Mangalore: All those who have genuine concern for our city's development into a metropolis have something to cheer about.
Map design: Pinto Vamanjoor / Shalmi
A highly ambitious project aimed at constructing a 100-ft wide, 31-kilometre-long 'Mangala Corniche' is on the anvil. This is expected to ease the pressure on the intra-city road traffic as also speed up the movement of vehicles on the three major national highways - NH 13 (Sholapur-Chitradurga-Shimoga-Mangalore), NH 17 (Panvel-Mahad-Panaji-Karwar-Mangalore-Kannur-Kozhikode-Ferokh-Pudu-Ponnani-Kochi) and NH 48 (Nelamangala-Hassan-Mangalore).
Many projects are necessary for the city, especially in terms of infrastucture like roads. There is a talk among the citizens that the present MLAs have not been doing enough in this direction. If people say Mangalore MLA Nandavar Yogish Bhat could have done much more, his supporters say that the limits of his constituency almost coincide with the city corporation jurisdiction and hence he cannot do much in this regard. In any case, if this project materializes, he will have had the credit of having established a long-lasting memento to mark his stint as the local MLA.
Now that Bhat has also an additional responsibility as the chairperson of the Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (KSIIDC), the much-awaited project has been resuscitated. Interestingly, the proposed ring road will run around the city from the Ullal brigde through Bunder, Sultan Battery, Kulur bridge, Maravoor bridge, Gurpur bridge and therefrom across the Adyar hilltop to join NH 48 at Kannur (not to be mistaken for Kannur in Kerala, formerly known as Cannanore) off Padil but it will not touch the Arabian Sea anywhere. The road will intersect Kulur, Maravoor and Gurpur bridges.
The total cost is estimated at Rs 500 crore. Union and state governments are expected to bear the cost. If all goes well, work on the project is expected to commence in three months. A joint venture of the city corporation (MCC), Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB), the work will be executed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
A survey of the 12-km stretch, costing Rs 12 lac and making use of Global Positioning System (GPS), has been completed as part of Phase I (Total cost Rs 100 to 120 crore).
The five phases are:
1. Kulur-Ullal
2. Kulur-Maravoor
3. Ullal-Kannur
4. Maravoor-Gurpur
5. Kannur-Gurpur
Entailing construction of some bridges and flyovers, this project, with most part of it running on river banks, is said to be the largest of its kind in the whole country. The Karnataka Housing Board will defray the initial cost of survey etc.
So far so good. The project will certainly give a big boost to the city in tourism, business and living standards, with the MRPL petrochemical complex, SEZ etc. scheduled to set foot here very soon.
But, as we made a survey of public opinion here, several questions have been cropping up. Since this route is passing on the river banks in most part, will it clash with the CRZ and environmental regulations?
Will it be an eyesore of a concrete skeleton around the city, which has been blessed with a beautiful seaface from Kulur to Ullal and a lovely pony-tail-like stretch of sand from Kulur through Tannirbavi, Bengre, right up to Ullal bridge? Will it not offend the aesthetics of Mangalore? Will it not involve destruction of the precious mangrove growth on our river banks, felling of thousands of trees and razing of hundreds of existing structures and houses?
Many are of the opinion that it would be far safer and more economical to dilute the density of the city to the suburbs by building satellite townships and moving all major government offices to uptown areas.
The above-mentioned points have been raised by some serious-minded citizens.. Added to it is the forbidding cost and its likely escalation over the years of construction period.
Over to experts.
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