BELAGAVI: Public works minister Satish Jarkiholi initiated repair works on the Belagavi-Goa Road via Chorla near Kankumbi on Saturday. Several organisations had urged Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari to address the repair needs of the Goa route during his recent visit to Belagavi.
District minister Satish Jarkiholi launched the repair works on 43.3 km long Belagavi-Chorla-Goa state highway-748A at Kanakumbi in Khanapur taluk.
Speaking on the occasion, minister Jarkiholi said there was a lot of pressure from the public to repair the Belagavi-Chorla-Goa Road.
“It has already been discussed with Union minister Nitin Gadkari. In this regard, repair works including drainage, bridge construction have been taken up and will be completed on the road from Ranakunde village to Chorla village within 11 months. This is the main highway connecting Karnataka and Goa and a convenient short route to Goa from Belagavi for passengers. The widening of the road is not possible due to the forest department’s location but a drain will be constructed on the roadside so that it will not be damaged. The estimated cost of the work is Rs.58.9 crore,” he added.
“Construction works on national highway roads are progressing at a very fast pace in the state. Many development works have already been completed in the state and accordingly, good projects will be delivered to people under the new budget. There are plans to upgrade Gokak Falls into a tourist destination and to construct a flyover in Belagavi city so that traffic congestion is reduced,” he said.
Khanapur MLA Vitthal Halagekar said: “Chorla Marg is the main road connecting Belagavi to Goa. There has been a demand for the repair of this road for many years. Minister Nitin Gadkari, who visited Belagavi, received the request and discussed it with the minister. Gadkari removed the obstacles to road repair and handed over the repair work to the public works department. Road repair will benefit everyone.”
District minister Satish Jarkiholi, Khanapur MLA Vitthala Halagekar and Legislative Council member Nagaraj Yadav performed bhumi puja for the Belagavi-Chorla-Goa road repair work.
Belagavi MLA Asif (Raju) Sait, Savadatti MLA Vishwas Vaidya, Kittur MLA Babasaheb Patil and Kanakumbi GP president Deepti Gavas were present.
