Highway project to be ready by '05

The 5,846 km-long Golden Quadrilateral will be ready by December, 2005, and review meetings of chief secretaries, officials of the forest department, power and revenue department will be held every month.

This will help in the early completion of the 7,300 km corridor up to Kanyakumari, K H Muniyappa, Union minister of state for road transport and National Highways told reporters here on Friday.

As part of improving Mangalore port's connectivity and the request made by Oscar Fernandes, Rs 40 crore will be released soon to develop the National Highway 17 from the New Mangalore Port up to Kundapur, he said. The National Highway, from B C Road to Surathkal will also be improved and funds released from the Central Road Fund for the purpose, he said.

The National Highway 48 (Bangalore to Mangalore) is in a bad shape as it doesn't have the carrying capacity for yheavy trucks and tankers, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, is being consulted to extend life of the roads.

The RTO of Mangalore has also been directed not to allow more traffic than the capacity of the National Highway, he said.

Taking into consideration the lack of roads in the rural areas, stress will be laid on underpasses and service roads in rural areas.

The minister who visited Maravanthe on Wednesday to take a first-hand look at the menace of sea erosion there said that the Central Water Power Research Centre has been approached for a complete study to combat sea erosion.