VIJAYAWADA: Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari along with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will virtually inaugurate the much-awaited Kanaka Durga flyover in the city on October 16. This apart, Gadkari will also lay foundation stones for various development projects worth Rs 15,592 crore in the State executed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
It may be recalled here that the flyover inauguration was postponed twice in less than a month. Though it was initially proposed to inaugurate the flyover on September 4, the same has been postponed to September 18, following the death of former President Pranab Mukherjee. Days before its scheduled inauguration on September 18, Gadkari tested positive for Covid-19 and was under home isolation.
Though Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) announced that vehicular traffic on the flyover will be allowed from September 18 without formal inauguration, the district administration didn’t allow the same following directions from Principal Secretary (Transport) MT Krishna Babu.
The foundation stone for the 2.3-km-long six-lane flyover was laid on December 5, 2015 by Gadkari. Initially, the deadline for the project was August 2016 coinciding with the Krishna Pushkaralu. However, the deadline for completion of the project was missed numerous times and the formal inauguration too was postponed due to various reasons in the past one month.