VIJAYAWADA: Demand for bridge-cum-barrage on river Krishna in place of the proposed suspension bridge is intensifying day by day, with likes of Rayalaseema Joint Steering Committee convener Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy, Rayalaseema Joint Action Committee coordinator Kamani Venugopal Reddy, coming out with different programmes to convince policymakers and at the same time build pressure through people’s movements.
Representations will be submitted to all 52 MLAs and eight MPs of Rayalaseema region on Sunday, which will be followed by a signatory campaign to drum up public support. Further, appointment of union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Gajendra Singh Shekawat have been sought to explain the situation.
“What Rayalaseema region, which is drought-prone, needs is water. When there is a possibility of getting it through construction of a bridge cum barrage, where is the need for a cable bridge, which is just ornamental in nature and scenic location for some film shootings,” asked Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy, now leading the people’s movement for bridge cum barrage on Krishna river.
The suspension (cable) bridge across the river on NH 167 (from Kalwakurthy in Telangana to Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh) at Siddeswara-Somasila region in the backwaters of Srisailam was sanctioned by Union Minister for National Highways Nitin Gadkari last year.
Elaborating on the importance of bridge cum barrage, Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy said post Independence, even before Nagarjuna Sagar project proposal was made, planning commission had approved Krishna-Pennar project in 1951.