New office soon for National Highways division in Belagavi

A new divisional office of the National Highways division will be set up in Belagavi to oversee road projects in the northern and north-eastern regions of the State.

An office of the National Highways division, under the Department of Public Works, will be started in Belagavi soon.

A release from the office of the Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi said here on Thursday that the State government has issued a circular stating that a divisional office of the National Highways division will be set up in Belagavi.

An officer of the cadre of Chief Engineer of National Highways will head it. He will be supported by a team of 37 officers who will be appointed, transferred or readjusted from other offices.

Raghunathgouda Patil, Undersecretary, Public Works, has issued the circular for the purpose.

The office will have jurisdiction over Dharwad and Kalaburagi regions. Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayanagar and Ballari districts will be covered.

The jurisdiction will include superintendence over 1,608 km of roads in the north and north-east regions of the State. Of the total 3,830 km of National Highways in the State, there are 2,222 km of roads in the south and central regions.

“The new divisional office has been necessitated for the effective implementation of projects in the State. Concentration of all offices in Bengaluru is one of main reasons why several new projects are not being properly implemented in the State. Officers sitting in Bengaluru are not able to supervise works in the northern and north-eastern regions. Hence, this decision,” Mr. Jarkiholi has said.