VIJAYAWADA: The long pending demand of the residents of Kedareswarapeta and Chitti Nagar areas in the city for doubling of Yerra Katta Road will be fulfilled soon as the Roads and Buildings(R&B) department officials have sent a report of the revised estimates of the construction work to the State government. The report claims that Rs133 crore is required for the purpose.
Over the years, widening of the 2.5 km Yerra Katta Road stretch between Kedareswarapeta and Chitti Nagar did not take place due to varied reasons. This is a cause of worry for more than two lakh people residing in the western part of the city in the localities of Chitti Nagar and Vidyadharapuram. Out of the total, most of these people are daily wagers and utilise the Yerra Katta Road stretch as a shortcut to reach their workplace in Gandhi Nagar, Governorpet and other surrounding areas.
Doubling of vehicular traffic, resulting in traffic snarls during peak hours has aggrieved the situation. In addition to this, for the past three and a half years since the commencement of Kanaka Durga flyover works, vehicles heading towards Hyderabad are also passing through the area making it worse for commuters returning to their homes in the evening. Considering the severity of the matter, the R&B officials in 2015 sent a proposal to the former TDP government for widening the road stretch at an estimated cost of `100 crore in order to ease traffic congestion. However, the project could not be undertaken due to varied factors.
Speaking to TNIE on Tuesday, R&B department deputy executive engineer P Radha Krishna said that as part of his recent city tour, Endowments Minister Vellamapalli Srinivas directed the department to prepare estimates for widening the stretch at the earliest. ‘’We have prepared a revised estimate for widening the stretch by constructing two more Rail Over Bridges at an estimated cost of `133 crore. The same has been forwarded to the government and we are waiting for its approval,’’ he said.