Will the vital Shirady Ghat stretch on National Highway (NH) 75 — connecting Mangaluru with Bengaluru — see improvement? This is the question haunting users from Karnataka, and they have reasons to expect a positive outcome .
During his recent interaction with industry bodies in Mangaluru, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, promised to widen the vital 26-km stretch of the Western Ghat section on NH-75 into a four-lane highway.
Interestingly, the Karnataka Public Works Minister, CC Patil, recently stated in the State Legislative Council that the preparation of the project report for the work is still in the process. This statement has created confusion among users, as Gadkari had stated that he had already held discussions with the Karnataka government in this regard, and had assured to take it up on priority basis.
Shashidhar Pai Maroor, President of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told BusinessLine that industry bodies have been pursuing the road widening proposal for years. Since Gadkari has given a green signal to the project, it is now the responsibility of the State government to speed up the process.
A vital link
The NH-75, which passes through the Western Ghat section, is a vital link between Mangaluru and Bengaluru. However, the region’s trade and industry bodies have been highlighting the fact that some stretches (10 km) on the Shirady Ghat section are not motorable.
Isaac Vas, President of Kanara Industries Association, said the Shirady Ghat stretch has been reconstructed for the past 10 years.
Highlighting the plight of road users during monsoon, Vas said any landslip on the Shirady Ghat stretch leads to the closure of traffic on it. In these cases , authorities allow the movement of passenger vehicles on the alternative Sampaje Ghat section on the Madikeri-Mangaluru route. During such circumstances, cargo movement is not allowed on Madikeri-Mangaluru route.
The Charmady Ghat section on Mangaluru-Chikmagaluru route, which is another alternative, has narrow curves making it impossible for the movement of heavy vehicles on it.
Gaurav Hegde, Chairman of the CII-Mangaluru, said the proper connectivity to New Mangalore Port from the hinterland is the urgent infrastructure requirement of the region. “The port’s full potential can be better explored, if the Shirady Ghat bottleneck is solved by widening it,” he added.
Pai said the trade and industries of the region have been striving for an all-weather road connectivity to Bengaluru for over three decades. Constant repair works on the Shirady Ghat stretch and landslips during monsoons create problems for users.
Vas said that the Shirady Ghat stretch is vital for the movement of cargo and thousands of passengers every day. Over 40 per cent of EXIM trade from Karnataka was diverted to other ports because of the road condition.