Mysuru: Certain stretches of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) of Mysuru city have been declared as National Highways so as to avoid the Highway heavy vehicle traffic from passing through the city, according to a communication in this regard sent on Jan. 8 this year to Director General, Road Development and Special Secretary to Government of India, by the Karnataka Public Works Department (PWD).

This comes after K.C. Biddappa, President of Sankalp Mahal Apartment Owners Welfare Association, Lalitha Mahal Palace Road, Siddarthanagar, writing to the Office of the Prime Minister on 30.11.2015 to shelve the project of widening National Highway 212 inside Mysuru city limits. The Superintending Engineer, National Highways, PPP Cell, Bengaluru, has confirmed this declaration in a letter he has written to K.C. Biddappa on 29.6.2018.

In his letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, Biddappa had opposed the widening of a five-kilometre stretch of the National Highway 212 passing through Lalitha Mahal Palace Road and said that the widening project will affect the public health and safety of residents apart from destroying hundreds of fully-grown trees.

Biddappa had alleged in his letter that the PWD Minister of Karnataka (Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa was the PWD Minister in 2015) was hell bent on widening this road and had taken it as a prestige issue and is exerting pressure on National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials to immediately execute the project of widening the five-kilometre stretch.

Following Biddappa’s letter, the Chief Engineer, National Highways, Bengaluru, requested the Director General (Road Development) and Special Secretary to Government of India to notify the Outer Ring Road of Mysuru as National Highway so as to avoid heavy traffic of lorries and trucks from passing through the city. Accordingly, parts of Outer Ring Road have been declared as NH 275, NH 150A and NH 212 and it has been communicated to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, New Delhi, by the Minister for PWD, Karnataka.

According to the communication from the PWD, a total of 41.615 km of the Outer Ring Road have been declared as National Highways.

Firstly, National Highway 275 Bantwal-Bengaluru section originates in Bantwal and passes through Puttur, Sullia, Madikeri, Periyapatna, Hunsur, Mysuru, Mandya, Channapattana, Ramanagaram, and Bidadi and terminates in Bengaluru.

The Highway enters the Mysuru city limits at the junction of Outer Ring Road at kilometre 211.250 near Hinkal village and leaves Mysuru city at the junction of Outer Ring Road near Columbia Asia Hospital at kilometre 220.250. This length of Outer Ring Road along NH 275 is 9 km and it has been declared as a part of National Highway 275.

Secondly, National Highway 150A from Jewargi to Chamarajanagar overlaps NH 275 from Srirangapatna and intersects Outer Ring Road near Columbia Asia Hospital at kilometre 629.424. It traverses through Outer Ring Road and leaves Outer Ring Road at kilometre 646.334 near Bandipalya village junction of Outer Ring Road and further joins Chamarajanagar via Nanjangud. This length of road is 16.90 km and it has been declared as a part of National Highway 150 A.

Thirdly, the Outer Ring Road links National Highway 275, National Highway 212 and National Highway 150A and joins NH-275 near Hinkal. This length of Outer Ring Road is 15.715 km and has been declared as part of National Highway 212.

Upgraded to National Highways

The following stretches of the Outer Ring Road have been upgraded to National Highways as follows:

1. A stretch of 9-km from junction of Hinkal village up to Columbia Asia Hospital (NH 275).
2. A stretch of 16.9-km (NH 150A overlapping with NH 275) from Srirangapatna intersecting the Outer Ring Road near Columbia Asia Hospital, traversing through Outer Ring Road up to Bandipalya on Nanjangud Road.
3. A stretch of 15.715-km from Nanjangud Road near Bandipalya up to H.D. Kote junction (Outer Ring Road links NH 275 and NH 212 / NH 150 A) joining NH 275 near Hinkal (15.715 km).