The Hindu Business Line : Call for good road infrastructure

MANGALORE: The Executive Engineer of National Highway Authority of India, Mangalore Division, Mr B.S. Balakrishna, has said that people should make best use of the existing road infrastructure.

He was answering queries at an interactive meeting with the members of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Mangalore on Monday.

Stressing the need for good road infrastructure, he said that first phase of work on conversion of national highway between Surathkal and B.C. Road into four-lane road will begin soon.

On the condition of bridges in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, he said most of them were built 70 years ago and their exposure to saline contents had affected them.

The former President of KCCI, Mr Giridhar Prabhu, who initiated the discussions at the meet, stressed the need for a holistic action plan for the development of national highways. He suggested that Government could think of constructing parking bays along the highways.

The KCCI member, Mr Subbayya Shetty, wondered how New Mangalore Port, one of the major ports in India, was left out in the Golden Quadrilateral project. Parallel roads to the existing highways could help de-congest traffic on highways. Local population, which is using the highways, could be benefited from such roads, he added.