Golden Quadrilateral to be completed by Dec

Bangalore, Sept 15: The Golden Quadrilateral Project, launched by the previous National Democratic Alliance Government in 2001, will be completed by the year-end, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K H Muniyappa said today.

Speaking to newspersons after reviewing various ongoing projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) here, he said nearly 95 per cent of the work was over and only about 250 km of road had to be laid.

Without attributing any motive, he recalled that the then NDA Government had fixed the timeframe for completion of the project as 2004. However, due to various reasons, including the lacunae in the system, it could not be completed on time. The United Progressive Alliance Government headed by Manmohan Singh would complete the project now, he added.

Mr Muniyappa said while 4.5 km of road per day was laid during the then NDA Government, the authorities had laid 5.6 km of road per day to complete the project at the earliest. The total cost of the project was around Rs 31,000 crore and the cost escalation was around Rs 2,000 crore on completion, he pointed out.

He said the Golden Quadrilateral portion in Karnataka was 625.24 km, of which 592 km was on Bangalore-Pune section of NH-4 and 33 km on NH 7 (Bangalore-Attibele). Of the total length, 560 km had been laid as four lanes, he added.

Mr Muniyappa said the Letter of Acceptance had been issued for the Rs 110 crore Elevated Highway between Silk Board junction in the city to Electronic City. The Bangalore-Nelamangala (NH-4) would be upgraded to six lanes with facilities such as truck lay-by and bus shelters. It would also comprise construction of six vehicle underpasses and a flyover. The overall cost of the project was around Rs 445 crore, he added.

He said the State had been asked to submit a feasibility report on the possibility of widening the Shiradi Ghat zone in Hassan-Mangalore sector which faced heavy traffic movement.

The Minister said the Centre had initiated a number of measures for the national highways, which included 10,000 km 4/6 laning under NHDP III with the help of private participation at an investment of Rs 55,000 crore to be implemented by 2012, NHDP phase five for six laning of 5,000 km of selected national highways and improvement of selected road lengths of 7,639 km in the North Eastern region at an estimated cost of Rs 12,123 crore.

UNI