Bengaluru-Shivamogga road in the fast lane

Connectivity from Bengaluru to Shivamogga is set to improve as the Union Transport Ministry has finally approved the revised cost estimate of the four-laning of the much delayed Tumakuru-Shivamogga section. Currently, there are a six-lane (Bengaluru city to Nelamangala) and a four-lane (Nelamangala to Tumakuru by pass) road and from Tumakuru by pass to Shivamogga, it is mostly a two-laned road. Though the four-laning of this road had begun a few years ago, the land acquisition cost had delayed the project.

A senior NHAI official said, “As we began acquiring land, the compensation package increased and so we were not in a position to acquire the land to financial crunch. So, we had to send a revised cost estimate for the approval. As a result, the four-laning work had halted.”

The revised cost estimate has been approved on Friday. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had tweeted, “The revised cost estimate proposal of four-laning of four sections of road between Tumakuru-Shivamogga stretches of NH-206 on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) under Bharatmala Pariyojana has been approved.”

As per this, the union government has approved Rs. 1,364.14 crore for Mallasandra to Karadi section (54 kilometres), Rs. 1,505.85 crore for Karadi to Banavara (57 km), Rs. 1,444.5 crore for Banavara to Bettadahalli Section (48 km) and Rs. 2,082.98 crore for Bettadahalli to Shivamogga (57 km).

The Tumakuru-Shivamogga stretch not only connects Bengaluru to Shikaripura (CM’s home town) but also to important tourist locations like Jog falls (pic), Honnavar and even Goa. “This project has been a long-pending one as the current work had halted at many places and this was disrupting traffic and also turned the road into an accident prone one. We expect significant reduction in travel time and also in accidents when the four-laning work is complete,” said Sayta S, a resident of Shivamogga.

Daily train to Mangaluru

Good news for those travelling from Bengaluru to the coastal city of Mangaluru as the night train will be operational on all the days of the week (from four days a week earlier) from April 11. The South Western Railway has decided to increase the frequency of Train No. 06515 / 06516 KSR Bengaluru – Mangaluru Central – KSR Bengaluru Special Express via Kunigal. This train will depart daily from KSR Bengaluru at 9.30 pm and reach Mangaluru Central at 07:55 am the next day. In the return direction, Train No. 06516 Mangaluru Central – KSR Bengaluru Special Express will depart daily from Mangaluru Central at 8.10 pm and arrive KSR Bengaluru at 6:50 am the next day and this train will be operational from April 12. The railways have also decided to run (Train No. 06531 / 06532) KSR Bengaluru – Mangaluru Central – KSR Bengaluru fully reserved tri-weekly express special via Mysuru with normal fare.