Mangaluru
The Bhoo Malikara Horata Samithi NH-169 urged the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite the land acquisition process for the widening of NH-169 at Padavu village and provide compensation as per the 2020 notification.
Samithi President Mariamma Thomas expressed concern that the NHAI considered dropping the highway widening at Padavu, citing opposition from landowners and instead are planning to start the work from Baithurli. She told media persons that this claim was unfounded, as landowners were not against the project. Land owners fully support the widening to alleviate the traffic congestion in the area, she said.
Mariamma recalled that Union Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation for the road widening project at Padavu and any plan to drop it at Padavu would be met with legal action. She insisted that the widening of NH-169 should proceed as per the 2020 notification, from Bikarnakatte to Sanoor. The compensation for the land, which was set at Rs 9.5 lakh per cent in 2020, increased to Rs 13.5 lakh per cent. She also highlighted the difficulties landowners faced since 2016, being unable to develop or repair their properties due to the land acquisition notification.
Further, she said that the four-laning of NH-169, originally scheduled for completion by Oct 2024, faced significant delays, with several stretches of the project yet to see proper progress. She called on the NHAI to ensure a 45-metre-wide road and blamed the authority for the ongoing delays.
