Karnataka - Hubli-Dharwad   

End in sight to traffic woes of Hubli residents

Poor state: The stretch of road between Hosur Circle and Unakal Cross Road has been in a bad shape for long.

HUBLI: Work on widening the Hosur Circle-Unakal Cross Road stretch here is all set to begin. It is almost a year since people using the road started complaining about poor road conditions.

Despite the road not being wide, the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Council had given permission for constructing a median on the stretch to private parties under a public-private partnership project.

With the median, the road became smaller and started causing traffic snarls. Hence, the wide pavements had to be done away with and with contractors taking months to clear the debris, people were again put to hardships.

After the issue was raised by the then council members and highlighted by the media, the debris was cleared. But the indiscriminate breaking of pavements continued to cause problems.

Initially, road-widening work was delayed owing to the lack of coordination among between various government agencies such as Hubli Electricity Supply Company, Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Council and the Public Works Department. The new tendering system and high rates quoted by contractors delayed it further.

The National Highway Hubli Division was allocated Rs. 1 crore under the Central Road Fund (CRF) for the work. But even after tenders were floated four times, the bid could not be finalised because of “exorbitant rates” quoted by the contractors.

It now appears that the sufferings of people using the road stretch would come to an end.

Tenders were floated for the fifth time and it has been finalised.

Official sources said that the work order was being issued and the contractor would begin work soon after that.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Flood relief: Rs. 4.09-cr. action plan chalked out
End in sight to traffic woes of Hubli residents
SUCI plans agitation against SEZs
CSI fellowship
Special trains

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu