Expedite land acquisition process for widening NH 169 in Karkala taluk, Poojary tells officials

MP for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Kota Srinivas Poojary on Tuesday directed officials to expedite land acquisition and compensation payment process for widening the Mangaluru-Solapur National Highway 169 into four-lane between Karkala and Mala in Karkala taluk, Udupi district, as acquisition issues have created bottlenecks in some places.

Chairing a review meeting at Rajatadri in Manipal, Mr. Poojary said the compensation should be based on the market value of the property. He said just compensation would help those who gave up their land for the project to rebuild their lives. The highway works in the district should be completed on priority, Mr. Poojary said.

MLA for Karkala V. Sunil Kumar said that the rate of compensation for lands acquired for the same national highway in neighbouring Dakshina Kannada was higher to the one offered in Karkala taluk. There should not be any discrimination, and the officials should fix the compensation scientifically, he said.

Ongoing since 2022

The National Highways Division of the State Public Works Department has been executing the four-lane project for 15.2 km at an estimated cost of ₹177.94 crore since 2022. The department has already missed the February 2025 deadline assured by the Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, because of issues involving land acquisition.

The Hindu on October 21 reported the inconvenience the road users were facing due to sudden diversions on the highway because of non-availability of land. In one such diversion, a private bus rammed a multi-utility vehicle (MUV) at Miyar on January 23, killing three occupants of the MUV.

NH 169A

Meanwhile, Mr. Poojary directed the officials to speed up the completion of the four-lane widening work of the Malpe-Tirthahalli NH 169A between Malpe and Karavali Junction in Udupi.

Deputy Commissioner T.K. Swaroopa asked the officials concerned to conduct physical inspection of properties under acquisition before fixing the compensation.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Abid Gadyal, Divisional Forest Officer P. Ruthren, and others were present.