Bantwal: Towns and villages alongside the National highway will vanish if the widening plan of national highway 75 is carried out.
As per the sketch drafted by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),for converting Mangalore-Bangalore national highway 75 into four-lane road between Hassan and B C Road comes into exsistance then the very old towns alongside the highway i.e Melkar, Kalladka, and Mani will cease to exist.As per the land acquisition plan this towns will be gobbled.
As per the final sketch, hundreds of houses, hundreds of acres of agricultural land, commercial centres, and commercial hubs of some villages will be gobbled as well.
This plan for the widening of 128 km stretch of national highway between Hassan and B C Road had been considered long back and its sketch had been prepared long time back as well, but it was not finalised then.
The NHAI has now decided to impliment the plan and for which it has completed first phase of survey work.The land acquisition task between Hassan and Sakleshpur has allready taken place.
As per the plan, a total of 45 metres of land, at the rate of 22.5 metres on each side, will be acquired.
The authority has already served notices on the owners of private lands, residential houses, and buildings, on the basis of the survey. It has also called for objections and held sessions to sort out them. As per the survey in Bantwal taluk, the very appearance of Melkar town will undergo major change as several landmark buildingswill be axed.
Bus stand, most of the shops, buildings and houses in Kalladka Kelagina Pete may be also be axed . It is said that Mani town will become extinct because of the highway widening plan. The buildings in Mani which are facing the prospect of demolition are school, shops, market building, and the old gram panchayat office building.
Through a notification and notices issued on March 27 this year, NHAI had asked the owners of buildings to file objections if any within 21 days. Those who objected to the plan were asked to come to Hassan, where their petitions were received and endorsements were issued that these petitions are under consideration.
But the major worry is for the people of the area are now terrified by thought of losing their bases, because of the initiatives undertaken by the authority. Though owners of the land will get compensation, the people do not have too much hopes on the quantum of compensation. Most of them are putting in efforts to retain their land and buildings.
With in a couple of months the NHAI will conduct a complete fresh survey of the houses, buildings, and agricultural land proposed to be acquired.
The widening of the highway looks beneficial in the long run, it poses lot of problems and losses to people in the short run.
Tahsildar (land acquisition) of NHAI, Hassan, confirmed that highway will be widened between Hassan and B C Road, and that survey has been completed. He added that land acquisition process is on between Hassan and Sakleshpur. “Land acquisition process up to B C Road will be finalized within a year from now, after which, works will begin on national highway widening project,” he clarified.