NHAI comes up with plan to rid highways of black spots

BK Lakshmikantha Mysuru: Intent on making roads under its jurisdiction safe for motorists, the National Highways’ Authority of India (

NHAI

) has drafted a plan to construct grade separators at various junctions identified as black spots along those stretches connecting Mysuru. Many junctions along highways leading to

Mysuru

have been identified as black spots owing to the frequency of accidents reported from those spots.NHAI officials, who recently conducted a survey – both on the ground and using drones – have identified 11 black spots on the stretch of National Highway-212 running between Gundlupet, Nanjangud, Mysuru and Kollegal, while one black spot has also been identified on the Mysuru-Madikeri Road, which forms a part of NH-275.The report on the survey has pointed out that accidents on NH-212 claimed the life of 69 people in the past three years. Most of these fatal accidents were reported in Elachagere, Bore, Hosahalli Gate, Kadakola Industrial Area and near APMC Gate. Of the 120 accidents reported on the stretch of the highway running between Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, the stretch around the Sachchidananda Ashrama accounted for most of them. On the other hand, the Mysuru-Madikeri Road that forms part of NH-275 has claimed the life of five people, while seven accidents have been reported in that period.NHAI superintendent engineer Sridhar shared relevant information on the project being undertaken to rid the stretches of the highways of black spots at a meeting convened by Mysuru MP

Pratap Simha

at the deputy commissioner’s office on Friday.The NHAI engineer has proposed the construction of a four-lane flyover at Elachagere Bore, and a four-lane underpass at Kalale Gate, a four-lane light vehicular underpass (LVUP) at Hosahalli Gate, a two-lane flyover at Kadakola Industrial Cross, another flyover at APMC Gate, a vehicular underpass at JP Nagar and a two-lane LVUP at

Sachchindananda Ashram

, as part of the NHAI’s solution for safe commute on NH-212.Along the same lines, NHAI has proposed the construction of a series of grade separators on the Mysuru-Madikeri Road. These include a four-lane vehicular overpass (VOP) near Tirumala Trust, and a four-lane VUP at Bannikuppe near the vegetable market.Sridhar pegged the cost of construction of grade separators at each of the black spots on both the highways at around Rs 50 crore.After lending an ear to the NHAI’s proposed plan, Simha asked the officials to conduct a survey to finalise the quantum of land to be acquired for the entire project. “I will discuss the proposal with the Union minister for road transport and highways, and obtain the Centre’s approval, when I visit New Delhi in the third week of March,” the MP said.Nod sought for felling treesSridhar also appealed to Simha to issue instructions to the forest department to clear 300 trees along the stretch from the Outer Ring Road (ORR) junction to Dodda Alada Mara on T Narasipura Road so NHAI could upgrade the stretch into a four-lane street. “ORR junction, the junction near Rajashekar Hospital and the one at Dodda Alada Mara are three black spots. We have submitted a proposal to the forest department to cut 300 trees so we can start working on making the stretch a lot safer,” Sridhar said.Simha placed a call to the officials concerned, and issued instructions to ensure that the required permission was granted to clear the trees so work on the road could be undertaken at the earliest.What is a black spot?According to the norms laid down by the Union ministry of road transport and highways, any stretch that is 500m (or more) in length, wherein five fatal accidents or 10 mishaps resulting in travellers sustaining grievous injuries in a span of three years, is declared a black spot.