If everything goes on as planned by the National Highways division of the State Public Works Department (PWD), work on converting the four-kilometre stretch of NH 169A between Karavali Junction in Udupi and Malpe will commence by this year-end.
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued on July 20 a preliminary notification to acquire 69,568 sq m of land in three villages of Udupi district — Ambalpady, Kodavoor and Moodanidambur — for the four-laning work.
In all, 206 pieces of property — four in Ambalpady, 146 in Kodavoor and 56 in Moodanidambur villages — are proposed to be acquired. Objections to the notification would have to be filed within 21 days from the date when it was issued.
The project is part of the four-laning work on the Malpe-Parkala stretch of Malpe-Shivamogga NH 169A. While work on Karavali Junction and Manipal is nearing completion, work on the Parkala portion is going on at a slow pace because of land acquisition issues.
PWD’s National Highways division’s Executive Engineer in Sringeri Nagaraj Naik told The Hindu that the four-lane work between Karavali Junction and Malpe involves construction of two-lane carriageways of 9.5 m wide each, a median of 1.5 m wide, a 2 m wide cobblestone-paved road on both sides of the carriageways and shoulder drains of 1.5 m wide on both sides. Roughly, land up to 15 m from the centre of the existing highway would be acquired on both sides, he said.
After hearing objections, the government would issue a final notification and then make acquisition by passing awards. The department has ₹ 10 crore to pay compensation to land losers, he said.
Mr. Naik, however, made it clear that work would start only after all the required land was acquired for the project. The department does not want to take the blame for delays on account of hurdles in land acquisition as it was seen in the Parkala stretch project, he said.
Mr. Naik said that issues concerning land acquisition in Parkala may be resolved in a couple of months and work would be completed thereafter. The highway would have a uniform width from Malpe to Parkala via Udupi and Manipal, he added.