Expressing disappointment over the way the four-lane work between Hassan and Maranahalli of National Highway 75 is being executed, Minister for Public Works C.C. Patil has said he will bring the issue to the notice of Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
Mr. Patil spoke to presspersons after inspecting the road work from Hassan to Donigal along with senior officers of the department on Monday. The road-widening work was taken up in 2017 with an estimated cost of ₹ 574 crore. As the contractor declared insolvency, the National Highway Authority of India entrusted the work to the sub-contractor in 2020.
“No doubt the execution of the work has been delayed. Besides that, the way the work has been done at many places is of poor standard. From Bengaluru to Hassan, the highway is good. The road from Hassan to Maranahalli should also be of the same standard. I got down my vehicle along the road and pointed out such places. I have told the officers that the contractor has to rectify them”, he said. The Minister said he would bring this issue to the notice of Mr. Nitin Gadkari. “It is my duty to inform him about the work. I will do it.”
Regarding the delay in executing the work, the Minister said there were some technical issues. The previous contractor could not execute the work. “The present contractor has time till December 2023. But, he has said he will complete the work by March 2024”.
The Minister said he had instructed the officers to depute an official to assess the quality of the road work. The official should be available for the local people, who could complain him of any sub-standard work they noticed.
Reacting to allegations that the contractor had been misusing the sand extraction points allotted to him exclusively for the road work, Mr.Patil said he will speak to the Department of Mines and Geology on this issue for further action.
The Minister was accompanied by Sakleshpur MLA H.K.Kumaraswamy, PWD Secretary K.S.Krishna Reddy, Hassan Deputy Commissioner R. Girish and other officers.
The Minister, along with Sakleshpur MLA H.K. Kumaraswamy, Hassan Deputy Commissioner R. Girish and other officials, inspected the highway widening work from Hassan to Donigal.
The Minister said, “There has been a delay in executing the work. The execution of work has not been done properly at many places. I have instructed the officers and contractor to set it right. The contractor has to do it.”
The work was allotted to a contractor in 2017. As the contractor gave up the work, it had been entrusted to another agency. “The contractor has time till December 2023 to complete the work. However, he has promised to complete the work by April 2024,” the Minister said.
