This Dasara, you can zip off to Mysore

FOUR-LANE SH-17 TO BE READY BY OCTOBER-END
This Dasara, you can zip off to Mysore
The Times of India

Bangalore: Despite delays and inclement weather, Bangaloreans and Mysoreans will get a Dasara gift: The accident-prone 141-km state highway (SH-17) between Karnataka’s two major cities will be fourlaned and ready by October-end.

Dubbed the “quickest route’’ from the IT capital to the Heritage City, most of the road portion — excluding 30 km that goes through Ramnagaram, Channapatna and Mandya — is already complete. It has been thrown open to traffic.

“Only 6 km near Mandya is not done as water pipes are being shifted slowly, without hampering supply to consumers in the area. It will be ready by October-end, for the Dasara traffic,’’ Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) managing director M.R. Kamble said.

The earlier deadline to throw open the road was June. But the project faced an unforeseen problem: heritage.

Of five bridges along the way, three were built by the erstwhile Mysore Maharajas. Over 100 years old, they have to be handled with much care in the rebuilding.

“One of these bridges is also a live aqueduct that supplies irrigation water to fields in surrounding areas. We have to be very careful not to cause damage,’’ Kamble said.

Two bridges are at Srirangapatna — before and after the town — across river Cauvery. The third one is across river Shimsha near Maddur.

Pillars that hold these bridges up are being placed at intervals wider than the old ones, to permit easier water flow. The foundation of the Kanva bridge near Channapatna had to be relaid three times before engineers agreed on the depth that can take the projected traffic of 60,000 PCUs by 2012.

All bridges, including the two small ones are to be ready by December. Work is on for rail overbridges at Bidadi and Kengal, with the same deadline.

The SH-17 four-laning is expected to be completed ahead of schedule and within its cost estimate of Rs 330 crore. The Bangalore-Maddur stretch will be five months ahead, the Maddur-Mysore stretch six months ahead.

KRDCL has also approved plans for building 3-km bypasses at Kengeri, Ramnagaram, Channapatna, Mandya and Srirangapatna. Project reports are expected in two months and work is to begin by year-end.

Down memory lane
The SH-17 has its own history: It is said to have been laid along the old horse-trail used during the time of the Mysore Maharajas. The road had 130 treacherous curves, but most have now been straightened out and are said to be safe even at speeds of 100 kmph.