NHAI: Project design not yet available for NH 75 work

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had said that the four-lane work of NH 75, between B.C. Road and Addahole in Dakshina Kannada district, will commence from this month, has now informed a citizen that the contractor is yet to submit design and drawings to it.

This statement, provided in the form of a reply to an application under the Right to Information Act on Friday, comes at the same time when Nalin Kumar Kateel, Dakshina Kannada MP, announced on Friday that the four-lane work will get completed by 2024.

Rajesh Krishna Prasad from Puttur had asked NHAI to provide copies of the blueprint and the design of the proposed four-lane NH 75 under the RTI Act.

NHAI’s Mangaluru Project Implementation Unit’s public information officer and Project Director Shishu Mohan, in a reply to the application, said, “The project is under engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode. Hence, design and drawing are yet to be submitted by the contractor.”

Mr. Mohan on July 17 informed the Disha meeting, chaired by Mr. Kateel, that NHAI had signed the agreement with the contractor the previous day. The work would commence in September, he had told the meeting.

With the original contractor, M/s Larsen and Tubro, foreclosing the contract following changes in the scope of work, NHAI invited fresh tenders for the work by dividing the project into two.

Hyderabad-based M/s KNR Constructions bagged the first package between B.C. Road and Periyashanthi (48 km) at an estimated cost of ₹1,100 crore, which included a 3-km long six-lane flyover at Kalladka town on March 22. NHAI is yet to finalise the tender for the four-lane work between Periyashanthi and Addahole (16 km).

Commenting on NHAI’s reply, another RTI activist Dinesh Bhat from Puttur said the project was bound to get further delayed.