MAHABUBNAGAR: Stage is set for the expansion of National Highway-167 from Jadcherla to Raichur under the Bharat Mala project. The State government is expected to issue a notification for acquisition of land for the project in the near future. The NHAI has, meanwhile, submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Telangana government. The highway, which is currently 30-metre wide, will now be expanded to 60 per cent from Jadcherla to Devasuguru (Karnataka). Four bypass roads would also be built as part of the project.
It may be recalled that the proposals to expand the said highway have been pending for a while now. The survey pertaining to the project was completed in 2017. Back then, the authorities had proposed to expand the road to 70 metres. However, they gave their plans a miss on receiving objections to the project.
Now, the expansion would be first taken up along the 44.41-km stretch between Jadcherla and Marikal, and later, the 45.57-km stretch between Marikal and Devasuguru. It is estimated that the authorities would need Rs 1,780 crore for road expansion and Rs 417 crore for land acquisition. The highway passes through 17 villages of Mahbubnagar and another 17 villages of Narayanpet.
Speaking about the developments, District Collector S Venkat Rao told Express that the Central government has asked the State to speed up the acquisition process. He said the draft notification for the same would be released in the next three days. “Compensation would be given to those persons who give up their lands for the project,” he added.
Bypass roads
The proposed bypass roads would be laid at Mahbubnagar, Marikal, Makthal and Maganoor. The Mahbubnagar bypass road would be 13.5-km long. As much as 225.61 hectares will be acquired in Mahbubnagar and 200 hectares in Narayanpet for the project