Puttur: Although the four-lane construction work on the Sediyapu section of the Puttur-Uppinangadi state highway has recently gained momentum, there are growing demands to speed up the process to ensure completion before the monsoon season.
A total of 1.8 km of the road, stretching from Boluwaru to the Haradi railway bridge and from Sediyapu to the Kodimbadi Gram Panchayat office, is being developed into a four-lane highway at a cost of 20 crore rupees. While hill cutting and road expansion have taken place in the Sediyapu area and concrete work is finished in some parts, the Boluwaru-Haradi section has shown little progress after initial civil works.
Despite 8 crore rupees being sanctioned for the reconstruction of the Haradi railway bridge, the project faces continued delays and has yet to commence. The public has alleged that the work is crawling due to the negligence of the contractor.
The development of this 11 km highway connecting Puttur and Uppinangadi has been happening in phases over the last decade, with several key sections still pending. Once the current work is completed, plans are in place for the next phase to develop the road from the Nekkiladi area to the national highway connection.
MLA Ashok Rai stated that the contractors have been given sufficient time and have been instructed to finish the work before the rainy season. Assistant Executive Engineer Rajesh Rai mentioned that the work has now picked up speed and the remaining tasks will be completed soon.
Stages of highway development
The 11 km stretch of the highway from Boluwaru to the Uppinangadi bridge is being developed into a four-lane road in stages over the past ten years. During Shakuntala Shetty's tenure as MLA, the stretch from Haradi to Krishnanagar was made four-lane, while the Sediyapu-Kodimbadi section was a two-lane road.
Under Sanjeeva Matandoor's tenure, four-lane work was carried out from Krishnanagar to Sediyapu and between the Kodimbadi-Berike-Nekkiladi petrol bunk. Currently, during MLA Ashok Rai's term, four-lane work is in progress between Boluwaru-Haradi and the Sediyapu-Kodimbadi Gram Panchayat office. Future plans include a 10 crore rupee project for a four-lane road covering approximately 1 km from near the Nekkiladi petrol bunk to the Uppinangadi national highway connection.