Now Reading: NH-66 widening incomplete a decade after 2016 deadline
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NH-66 widening incomplete a decade after 2016 deadline
The four-laning of National Highway-66, approved in 2012 and awarded to IRB Infrastructure in 2014, remains incomplete a decade after its original 2016 deadline. Residents say the road suddenly narrows at several…
The four-laning of National Highway-66, approved in 2012 and awarded to IRB Infrastructure in 2014, remains incomplete a decade after its original 2016 deadline. Residents say the road suddenly narrows at several points, including Karwar, and that work has stopped midway at multiple locations. Commuters crossing the Kali and Sharavathi rivers must use single bridges.
The Rs 1,690-crore project, covering 189 km from Majali checkpost to Kundapur, has received Rs 500 crore from the Union government. The company is executing it under a Build, Operate and Transfer agreement. NHAI project director K Shivakumar said 185 km are complete and only 4 km remain, with work pending at 19 locations due to land acquisition and rock blasting.
A police report says more than 2,500 accidents occurred on the incomplete stretch in the past decade, claiming over 300 lives. Bhatkal and Karwar MLAs have alleged the company is deliberately delaying work. The company blames the district administration for not handing over acquired land in time. Permission for blasting has been obtained and work will resume after the monsoon.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The NH-66 delay is one of the longest for a national highway project under the BOT model, a public-private framework where the concessionaire recovers costs through toll revenue over 28 years. Under the standard NHAI concession agreement, the maintenance period starts from the appointed date, not from completion, creating an incentive for the developer to postpone finishing works that would trigger full traffic flow and higher maintenance demands. The district administration's land acquisition lapses and the Forest Department's delayed clearances are recurring bottlenecks in Karnataka's coastal corridor. The project's final 4 km and 19 pending locations will determine whether IRB can meet the post-monsoon target, with the state government and MP now pressing NHAI for a fixed completion timeline.
Source: deccanherald.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
