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Wider road to link Mangaluru, Dharmasthala

The work of widening the 20 km long narrow stretch from BC Road to Punjalakatte will start after the monsoon.

Mangaluru: Two National Highways connecting the coastal city of Mangaluru to other places are all set to be widened soon.

The work of widening the 20 km long narrow stretch from BC Road to Punjalakatte will start after the monsoon. The BC Road- Punjalkatte stretch is part of NH 234 connecting Mangaluru to Villuppuram (Tamil Nadu). Apart from regular commuters of the region, hundreds of people depend on this road to travel between Mangaluru and the famous temple town of Dharmasthala.

Of the 60 km stretch from Mangaluru to Belthangady, the 20 km stretch from BC Road to Punjalakatte is difficult to negotiate and forces even SUVs to move at a snail’s pace. "The present road from BC Road to Punjalkatte is inadequate for smooth flow of traffic. The main reasons for accidents here are the curves, narrow road and the heavy traffic flow. The road needs to be widened at the earliest," Cartoonist Shailesh Ujire says.

"The government has now given its nod to widen the road from BC Road to Punjalkatte, the contractor will take up the widening work after the monsoon. This has been a long standing demand and we expect the work to be completed at the earliest," Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said. He said in the first stage, the stretch from BC Road to Punjalkatte would be widened.

"The road would be widened to double its size from the present 5.5 metres to 10 metres. Tender has been awarded and the contractor is likely to start work around October," the National Highways, Mangaluru Division Executive Engineer told Deccan Chronicle. Meanwhile a proposal has been sent to widen the Mangaluru-Karkala road too. This work would be taken up by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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