NHAI to rectify dangerous curve on NH 48 near Belagavi

Highway Authority of India’s engineers will work with local officers to rectify the design faults in a dangerous curve that has claimed several lives near the Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi. The Badekollamath turn on the Pune-Bengaluru Highway No 48 is a deep curve that descends from the Hirebagewadi Ghat into the Kanavi Kuruvina Koppa valley. This follows a request by the city police. NHAI has sanctioned ₹3 crore to rectify the defects. The ghat lies at a distance of around 20 km. There is a clear difference in the elevation and the four-lane highway winds through the curve, to climb the ghat. Police Commissioner Borase Bhushan Gulabrao, an engineer by training, flagged this issue last year. He noted that the small stretch has recorded a disproportional number of deaths. Police officers identified it as a major accident-prone spot, with deaths rising during the monsoon. Borase sought and obtained collaboration from the Belagavi-based KLS Gogte Institute of Technology in inspecting the site and assessing the engineering deficiencies. He wrote to them saying at least 18 fatal accidents have occurred in the same area in a short period of time. He suspected that some design flaws may be contributing to it. A team from the civil engineering department, including Professors Archana Shagoti, Somanath Khot and Kartik Kulkarni, conducted an inspection in July 2025. It revealed critical flaws in road geometry, particularly at the descending curve. According to the survey report, the curve has a radius of 220 m, which is below the Indian Road Congress (IRC) standard of 230 metres for zones with a speed limit of 80 kmph. The carriageway width was also found to narrow dangerously, from 11.13 m to 10.03 m along the curve, and further down to 9.53 m near an underpass identified as a primary accident hotspot. The study also pointed to overspeeding on rolling terrain and lack of lane discipline as key contributing factors to accidents at the site. The GIT survey team has recommended a series of corrective measures, including redesigning the curve, improving road geometry and enforcing speed restrictions to prevent further accidents. The Police Commissioner said that the steep gradient and sharp curvature tend to make vehicle control difficult, especially when it rains. “However, it can be rectified by banking and other smaller changes. We are happy that the engineering flaws have been formally identified and NHAI will take steps to rectifying them,” he said.