Hassan: After land collapse, is Shiradi project safe?
Tunnels have been a good solution to landslides and many countries like Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Norway have gone in for them.
Hassan: While the Union government has proposed a combination of bridges and tunnels over 23-kms from Dakshina Kannada to Sakleshpur in Hassan via the Shiradi ghat, there is rising concern that the project could be dangerous given the recent landslides in the region.
The Rs 10,000 crore project to be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to link Mangaluru with Bengaluru, aims to cut both travel time between the two cities and fuel consumption.
But with numerous landslides bringing both road and rail services to a halt in Sakleshpur for close to a fortnight, officials of the South Western Railways, Mysuru division , National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Public Works Department are still consulting experts to study the region’s soil pattern to prevent their recurrence in future. When this has not been completed, how prudent is it to go ahead with the tunneling in the region, ask activists.
However, responding to the concerns raised, an officer associated with the tunnel project, claims it is a safe option to connect Mangaluru and Bengaluru and may keep people safe from landslides in future.
“Tunnels have been a good solution to landslides and many countries like Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Norway have gone in for them. Also, the tunnel project via Shiradi ghat will be economically helpful as it will link Mangaluru port to Bengaluru,” he adds.
A detailed project report (DPR) of the Shiradi ghat tunnel project is said to have been submitted to the government and the work reportedly transferred from the Public Works Department to the NHAI . But there has not been much progress since, say sources.