The land acquisition process for the proposed ring road around Belagavi city is in its final stage, Guardian Minister Satish Jarkiholi has said. He added that the Central Government has been informed and requested to take up the project work at the earliest through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
According to the minister, land acquisition has been completed in many villages and most of the required land has already been handed over to the NHAI. However, even after this, the actual construction work has not started as the Central Government is yet to call for tenders.
“Land acquisition is almost complete and the land has been transferred to the National Highways Authority. The Centre should now issue tenders and begin work immediately. Farmers have also been told not to carry out agricultural activities on the acquired land,” Jarkiholi said.
The ring road project was planned in 2018–19 with joint participation of the State and Central governments. The proposed 69.42 km long circular road was estimated to cost over ₹1,300 crore. However, land acquisition issues and technical hurdles delayed the project by nearly four years.
Around 1,248 acres of land across 32 villages in Belagavi taluka have been acquired. About 90% of the acquisition is complete, while the remaining 10% of cases are pending in court. Officials from the Revenue and Land Acquisition Department have stated that these cases are expected to be resolved soon. Some farmers, whose one to two acres of land were acquired, have demanded alternative fertile land as compensation.
The ring road will pass through villages including Kondankoppa, Kamkarhatti, Dhamane, Yarmal, Yellur, Sulaga, Zadshapur, Waghwade, Santibastwad, Rankundye, Khadarwadi, Navage, Bijgarni, Belgundi, Bachi, Turmuri, Uchgaon, Gojga, Mannur, Agasga, Ambewadi, Kadoli, Honga and Mutga.
Once completed, the four-lane ring road will connect National Highway 48 (Bengaluru–Pune) and National Highway 748 (Belagavi–Khanapur) before entering the city. It is also expected to ease traffic congestion and improve connectivity between Goa, Belagavi and Hyderabad by linking with the proposed Belagavi–Hubballi–Raichur corridor under the Bharatmala scheme.