Unending work on NH 75 in Karnataka spells misery for people

What five friends experienced on the intervening night of July 17 and 18 near Doddathappale village on Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway 75 was nothing short of a nightmare. On the way back to their native district, Hassan, from a pilgrimage to Dharmasthala and Kukke Subrahmanya in coastal Karnataka, the men in their thirties were virtually buried under heaps of mud when a portion of a hillock fell on their moving car around 2 a.m.

But for the highway construction workers who were close by and rushed to their resuce, they might not have come out alive to tell the tale.

The highway is being widened to four lanes by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) between Hassan and Maranahalli in Hassan district (45 kms) and Adda Hole and B.C. Road in Dakshina Kannada district (63 km). “Two of us also suffered injuries. I have been asked to rest for two weeks,” said construction worker Akhilesh Kumar from Bihar, who was among those who rushed to save the five youths.

Following the July 18 landslip, curbs were imposed on vehicular movement fully for a day and two nights on the following days. Though the restrictions have been relaxed now, traffic crawls because of the condition of the stretch where the metalled road is nearly absent. With curbs on alternative highways (NH 275 Sampaje Ghat and NH 73 Charmadi Ghat), freight movement to and from the port town of Mangaluru to the rest of the State remains severely affected.

The incident is one of the many, some minor and some major, repeatedly occurring on the 10-km stretch of NH 75 between Sakleshpur and Maranahalli, where the winding highway passes through the hillocks before the Shiradi Ghat. For instance, in a similar incident in 2018, an oil tanker got pushed into a gorge near the same location, resulting in two deaths.

Residents believe that unscientific hill cutting, both for highway widening and execution of the Yettinahole Water Diversion project in this region, triggers landslips whenever the area witnesses heavy rains. Portions of the under-construction highway were damaged at several places on the outskirts of Sakleshpur town. “The hillocks have been cut at 90 degrees. The vegetation on the surface has been removed, damaging the soil structure. How can landslips not happen?” wondered Ravi Maranahalli, a two-time gram panchayat member from Hassan district.

This monsoon, Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan received 1,480.9 mm rainfall from June 1 to July 22 as against the normal rainfall of 960.9 mm. July alone saw 1,010.5 mm rainfall as against normal rainfall of 548 mm.

Even a decade after the 185-km Nelamangala-Hassan stretch of Bengaluru-Mangaluru National Highway 75 was made four-lane, the remaining about 125 km stretch between Hassan and B.C. Road near Mangaluru is not yet made fully four-lane. Though the work commenced in 2017, the progress has been marred by several impediments, including changing of contractors, land acquisition and forest clearance issues, change in design, and frequent landslips.

A key highway

NH 75 is a key highway which connects the State capital with the city which has the all-weather New Mangalore Port. The EXIM trade of the State heavily depends on this road that also connects other parts of the State with the coast. With a single-line rail link available for transporting freight as well as passengers, the highway plays a crucial role for passenger and goods movement between the coast and the hinterlands.

When iron ore mining and its export were at its peak, the 21-km Shiradi Ghat stretch of this highway was worn out because of the movement of overloaded ore-laden trucks. The late Oscar Fernandes, as the Union Road Transport Minister, had sanctioned funds for the upgradation of the Ghat, and finally, it was concreted (two-lane road) during 2013-16. However, the highway on either end of the Ghat in Hassan and Dakshina Kannada districts, respectively, continues to remain in a shambles, thereby making travel unsafe.

Nitin Gadkari, who continues to be at the helm of the road transport ministry in the third term of the NDA government too, had laid the foundation stone for widening NH 75 between Hassan and B.C. Road in 2016 during the first term of the NDA government.

The work commencement letters to selected contractors were issued in 2017. Isollux Corson was awarded the contract for the 45 km stretch between Hassan and Maranahalli in Hassan district at a cost of ₹400 crore on engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode with a two-year deadline for completion.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was awarded the Addahole and B.C. Road (66 km) stretch contract at a cost of about ₹821 crore under EPC mode in Dakshina Kannada district, also with a two-year deadline. The 21-km Shiradi Ghat in between these two stretches was excluded as the Ghat was concreted with a uniform width of 8 metres.

However, widening work on both the packages came to a halt within about one and a half years. While Isolux declared insolvency, L&T issued a contract foreclosure letter by 2018-end. Issues regarding land acquisition, forest clearance, non-availability of crushed stone, the addition of vehicular under/overpasses, forced L&T to walk out of the contract, the company had stated.

The NHAI took a year to on-board new contractors. It further split the Adda Hole-B.C. Road package into two. While the first package was awarded to Autade Engineering at an estimated cost of ₹400 crore for 15-km stretch, the second one was awarded to KNR Constructions at ₹ 1,100 crore for 48-km stretch.

The revised cost was almost double the original cost awarded to L&T. The Hassan-Maranahalli stretch was awarded to Rajkamal Builders, who had been the subcontractor of Isolux, at a cost of ₹538 crore (initially ₹400 crore). All these were awarded in 2021.

While the widening work is almost complete between Hassan and Sajkleshpur including the Sakleshpur bypass, the work was severely hampered between Sakleshpur and Maranahalli owing to frequent landslips and other related issues. The reported demand of the contractor to completely close the stretch for at least six months to execute the work was not accepted by the administration as the highway has been a crucial link between the coast and the hinterlands.

In Dakshina Kannada district, too, the widening work was nearly complete between Adda Hole and Periyashanthi, and the progress was nearly 75% between Periyashanthi and B.C. Road. Unplanned construction, however, has been affecting road users and residents alike in Dakshina Kannada, particularly at important locations including Nellyadi, Uppinangady, Mani and Kalladka.

People down the road

The work has impacted the lives of people all along the stretch. Kalladka town, about 31 km from Mangaluru towards Bengaluru on NH 75, is a case in point. It was famous for its tea served at Lakshmi Vilas Hotel that got branded as KT (Kalladka Tea). From 2022, a 2-km elevated highway that was part of the four-lane road has become a bane for the town, by serving dust during summer and slush during monsoon, with the flyover yet to be completed. Kalladka’s near absence of shoulder drains means flooding in the service roads. “This makes life miserable for pedestrians and motorists,” says Yusuf Ali, a resident of the town.

At Mani Junction, where the Madikeri-Mysuru NH 275 branches out towards Madikeri, the situation has been similar, with motorists and pedestrians struggling to negotiate the highway under construction. It is no different at Uppinangady and Nellyadi, the two other important towns on the stretch. While highway-side business establishments decry loss in business following highway widening work that has been going on for xx years, residents face the difficulties of artificial floods, minor landslips, missing connectivity, and other inconveniences.

Besides tourists and travellers, among those depending on the highway are taxi drivers and hoteliers. Abdul Shalid’s family has been running a hotel at Donigal for about 40 years. His family has lived through the different phases of road development that the Shiradi Ghat stretch has witnessed. During the concreting of the Ghat stretch, the highway was closed for several months.

“We are totally dependent on tourists. There is a dip in the number of vehicles as there has been a restriction on movement on the stretch at present. In the past also we have gone through similar days when there was no business. I don’t know when the road will be ready, and the travellers will move around without anticipating any danger on their path,” he said.

H. Venkatesh, who was heading to Mangaluru along with six friends from Bengaluru in a private vehicle, said all along the stretch he was worried about landslips. “Before starting the journey, we had information about the landslips. However, the journey could not be avoided. As we reached the Ghat stretch, the speed of the vehicle came down. And all our eyes were on the hillocks to check if there was any possibility of a landslip. I wish the government machinery and the experts find a solution to this eternal problem,” he said.

The Dakshina Kannada district administration, as well as elected representatives, have urged the NHAI to expedite the construction work and complete it at the earliest. In a recent review meeting, district in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told the NHAI to attend to Kalladka’s problems on a daily basis while asking it to hasten the work. Captain Brijesh Chowta, Lok Sabha member from Dakshin Kannada, also wanted the four-lane work completed at the earliest as passenger and freight movement was getting severely affected on a daily basis.

Following up on the demand of Capt. Chowta and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary, the South Western Railway operated three round trips of a special train service between Bengaluru and Mangaluru last week and has proposed to operate two round trips between Bengaluru and Karwar this weekend. However, there is no breather for freight movement, and Shiradi Ghat remains dangerous.