CHENNAI : Road travel to Hosur and Bengaluru from southern and western parts of Tamil Nadu will get shorter by 25 km soon. On Monday, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) invited bids to widen the 71.11 km Dharmapuri - Hosur STRETCH (Thorapalli) of the recently upgraded NH 844, into four-lane at the cost of `1,331 crore. The present battered two-lane stretch earlier was part of the 101 km Malur - Hosur - Adhiyaman Kottai State Highways 71.
The proposed project is to provide four-lane second entry to Hosur from Dharmapuri which so far had only one route via Krishnagiri. Currently, motorists heading to Hosur and Bengaluru from Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode reach Salem, take Chengapalli (Coimbatore) - Salem NH 544 from where they travel to Krishnagiri on Salem - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri NH 44. From Krishnagiri, motorists reach Hosur and Bengaluru via Sulagiri on Chennai - Bengaluru NH 48 (Old No. NH 4).
Similarly, vehicles from Madurai, Tirunelveli, Sivakasi and other parts of southern Tamil Nadu reach Hosur via Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri. “Once the proposed road is widened into four-lane, motorists from Salem can directly reach Hosur via Dharmapuri, Royakottai and Jittandahallim without entering Krishnagiri, thereby cutting the distance by 25 km,” said official sources.
In addition, the proposed road project would also decongest the 51 km of Chennai - Bengaluru NH between Krishnagiri and Hosur. According to official documents, the road works two will be executed in two packages under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase - I. While the 36.75 km Hosur (Thorapalli Agraharam) - Jittandahalli section is to be widened at ` 709.72, the 34.36 km Jittandahalli -Dharmapuri road development is estimated to cost `624.69 crore.
The land survey project has been completed and the Government has commenced preliminary works for land acquisition for the project, said officials. Surprisingly, the NHAI floated tenders without a detailed project report. “The bidder had to submit a drawing map for the project, accordingly a detailed project report will be prepared,” said an NHAI official.
Short route
Presently, there is only one entry route to Hosur and Bengaluru via Krishnagiri in NH 48
Motorists from western and southern Tamil Nadu enter Hosur via Salem - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri route
Northern TN vehicles take Ambur - Krishnagiri route to reach Hosur
The 71.11 km Dharmapuri - Hosur (Thorapalli) to be widened into four-lane
Once completed, vehicles from Dharmapuri can reach Hosur without entering Krishnagiri, which would cut the travel distance by 25 km
Proposed road would also decongest the Krishnagiri - Hosur stretch of NH48