Source: The Hindu
Road connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, via Gulbarga district to be upgraded
Road connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, via Gulbarga district to be upgraded
Ready for a facelift: The damaged inter-State highway that passes through Gulbarga district.
Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will set in motion the upgrading of the inter-State highway connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, via Gulbarga district, when he lays the foundation stone for the Rs. 240-crore project on Monday.
The highway will cover a distance of 139 km from Waghdhari in Maharashtra to Ripponpalli in Andhra Pradesh. Passing through Sedam, Gulbarga and Afzalpur taluks in Gulbarga district, it is considered an economically important road that will cut down the cost of cement transportation between the States.
Owing to the bad condition of the road, especially in the Gulbarga stretch, the three main cement producers here — Rajashree Cements, ACC Cements Ltd., and Vasavadatta Cements — have to take circuitous routes to transport the material, adding to the cost of the cement when it finally reaches the consumers.
Sedam MLA Sharanprakash Patil has been pushing for the project to be taken up under the public-private participation (PPP) model on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis for over eight years. Now, his efforts have paid off with the Government awarding the work to a Hyderabad-based consortium CVR to complete within two years.
According to information available with The Hindu, the financial arrangements are being finalised and the consortium has started the spade work for construction.
A full-fledged camp office has been set up at Ripponpalli in Andhra Pradesh and a hot mixing plant and quarry has been installed near the town.
Dr. Patil said the consortium had set up four separate teams to take up the upgrading work simultaneously to hasten the process. Work will be taken up from Gulbarga towards Ripponpalli, Ripponpalli to Gulbarga, Waghdhari to Gulbarga and Gulbarga to Waghdhari.
Other projects
Apart from this, the Union Government has also sanctioned Rs. 150 crore for the upgrading of two important roads in Gulbarga district under the Central Road Fund (CRF).
These are the Sedam-Yadgir Road, being upgraded at a cost of Rs. 67 crore, and the road from Hire Mannur on the borders of Maharashtra to Afzalpur town, at a cost of Rs. 82 crore.
According to information available here, both projects will be monitored at the implementation stage by the National Highway Authority of India.
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