Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday inspected the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway and announced that additional works worth Rs 158.8 crore will be taken up from November.
This comes in the wake of a series of fatal accidents on the expressway and complaints over pending civil works along its service roads.
After inspecting the stretch at Hale Budanur near Mandya along with district minister N Cheluvaraya Swamy and ADGP (traffic and road safety) Alok Kumar, the CM attributed the rise in accidents to lack of speed detectors. “The NHAI hasn’t installed speed detectors. The number of accidents has reduced after successful installation of speed detectors,” he claimed.
According to him, the number of accidents reported in June was 20 and in July, it came down to five after the installation of speed detectors. “Speed detectors are being installed at two spots. It will be more useful if they are installed at every 10km distance. It will also help police track the vehicles for violations ,” he said.
On the pending civil works, the CM said: “I’ve instructed officials concerned to take up the issue with NHAI authorities. The district minister and the chief secretary have been in talks with NHAI.”
He said Rs 158 crore will be sanctioned soon for completion of works related to service roads.
“I will also meet Union minister for highways Nitin Gadkari and hold a discussion on pending works and collection of toll fee without completing the civil works,” he said.