Pumpwell Circle-Padil Road Stretch a Rs 24 Crore 4-Lane Project to be Done by March 2024
Mangaluru: Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur, along with opposition leader of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) council Praveen Chandra Alva, inspected the Mahaveer Circle (Pumpwell)-Padil Road stretch, which is being developed into a four-lane at an estimated cost of Rs 24 crore. The 2.8 km road, which is considered a gateway to the city, is being developed through the Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL) but the work is moving at a snail’s pace.
The MSCL started developing the old National Highway stretch in February 2022, since the NHAI had denotified the stretch, which was earlier part of Mangaluru-Bengaluru NH 75. Since the delay in work has been causing much inconvenience to motorists on the busy road stretch, the mayor, along with engineers, visited the spot and directed the officials to ensure that the road work is completed soon
“We have been receiving complaints from people that the delay in work affects traffic movement to the city. As per the project, the road will be made a four-lane stretch with median, footpaths, drains and streetlights. We have conducted an inspection to expedite the work so that it will be completed by March 2024.,” the mayor said. “Since there are many additional works related to the construction of retaining walls and underground drainage that need to be taken up, the project cost may be escalated to Rs 30 crore”.
Widening and upgrading the 2.8-km-long Padil-Pumpwell stretch at a cost of Rs 24 crore is among the 11 road projects taken up by the MSCL. The stretch linked the National Highway 75 (Mangalore -Bangalore) with the National Highway 66 (Kasaragod-Mangalore -Udupi). Mayor inspected the progress of the road project and said that the delay in laying the natural gas pipelines by GAIL and drinking water supply pipelines under the ‘Jalasiri ‘ scheme of the government had come in the way of completing the road project.
The laying of gas and water supply pipelines is likely to be completed by this month’s end. Apart from widening the road into four lanes, the busy road stretch through which vehicles from Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Madikeri enter the city, the MSCL will also install streetlights on the stretch.