Pune Bengaluru Highway : Fast Progress on Bypass Widening Project

By: Pune Pulse

December 7, 2023

Pune:  Work on widening the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway bypass into a six-lane section on a stretch between Narendra Cross and Gabbur in Karnataka is going on at a rapid pace.

As per further information, in the year 2000, Nandi Highway Developers Limited (NHDL) built the 30.6km two-lane section. There have been multiple fatal accidents along this stretch. Thirteen people lost their lives in an accident near Itigatti Cross on January 15, 2021, while travelling from Davanagere to Goa on this stretch.

The citizens had sharply criticized the authorities for not widening the bypass in response to the accident. Numerous people had called for the bypass to be widened right away.

Hence, the Supreme Court took the accident seriously and requested a thorough report from the state government regarding the incident as well as the steps the government was proposing to avoid accidents in the future.

In response to popular demand, the central government published a notification on March 25, 2023, approving the comprehensive project report for the bypass’s expansion.

An NHAI official said that the 30.6 km stretch will be widened at a cost of Rs 580 crore and the work is expected to be finished by September 2025.

The NHAI official further added that 19 out of the total 40 acres of additional land have already been acquired for the bypass’s widening.

The bypass will have one road over bridge (ROB), one bridge over the railway track, and twenty-one underpasses. A total of 6 lanes will be constructed on either side of the stretch.

Shreyas Vange