NHAI Sets December 31 as New Deadline for Sirsi-Kumta Highway

In letters to PM Modi, Gadkari, Sirsi-based activist questions delay in completion of project

- SUBHASH CHANDRA N S @ Sirsi/Kumta

The project implementation authority (PIA) of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Honnavar, which is widening the NH-766E connecting Kumta with Sirsi has said that land acquisition issues, bureaucratic delays, legal hurdles and adverse weather have hindered the progress of upgradation of the road stretch and has mentioned that the project is likely to be completed by December 31, 2025. Interestingly, the company which had taken up the construction, had sought closure of the road up to December 2025, missing the district administration's deadline twice.

In two letters, one written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and another to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Sirsi-based Dr Ravikumar Patwardhan, also a civic activist, has questioned the delay in completing the project of widening NH 766E from Sirsi to Kumta, which began in 2019, the reason for its delay and its quality.

The letters (reg no PMOPG/E/2025/007799 dt 3 June, 2025) and another were written to the Minister of Road Transport and Highways (Reg. No MORTH/E/2025/0011769 dt 24 June 2025) have been forwarded to PIA, NHAI, Honnavar.