Crores washed away in flash floods
GURURAJ JAMKHANDI, TNN, Jan 11, 2011, 10.16pm IST
DHARWAD: Seven roads connect Dharwad to the outer world, and their condition is much to be desired. The road from Belgaum that passes through Dharwad was a national highway ( NH4) till recently. But now, it has lost its NH status after being declared "state highway" following the construction of bypass.
The authorities are busy filling the potholes on all the roads that were asphalted just a few months ago. The 38-km stretch between Dharwad and Savadatti had been relaid just a few months ago at a cost of Rs 14 crore. But the road is back to pathetic condition. It is shocking that even after spending crores, the condition of the road is worse. The PWD had taken up the work and the officials cite flash floods as the reason for roads going bad.
The road between Dharwad and Hebsur is riddled with potholes. It had been relaid at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. However, Kalghatagi-Dharwad and Halyal-Dharwad roads are in relatively better condition.
The work on converting Dharwad-Belgaum Road into six lanes is in progress. However, the same is not true with the Dharwad-Ramnagar Road that connects Karnataka and Goa. Public works minister C M Udasi had performed the bhoomi pooja with much fanfare on November 7 in the presence of RDPR minister Jagadish Shettar and others. But the work did not start as the forest department has not cleared the project that envisages doubling of the road at a cost of Rs 237.60 crore.
Hyderabad-based GVR-RMN-Pratyusha Companies consortium named GVRMP Dharwad-Ramnagar Tollway Private Ltd has been assigned the work on the 61.50-km stretch on build-operate-transfer (BoT)/ viability gap funding (VGF) basis.
The proposal to convert Hubli-Dharwad Road into a four-lane stretch may also hit a hurdle. There is water pipeline on one side of the road and the widening has to be taken up by acquiring land on the other side. Those owning the land along that side may resist land acquisition.
