GUNTUR: The denizens and commuters of Guntur city are awaiting the completion of the long pending third phase of Inner Ring Road (IRR), which is expected to ease traffic congestion and boost the city’s development.
It may be noted that the construction of the Guntur Inner Ring Road was proposed by the then Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTM UDA) in 2005.
The State government completed the construction of the road length covering 4.7 km, connecting Auto Nagar and Reddypalem between 2010-2014 in the first phase. In the second phase, a road length covering 2 km from Swarnabharati Nagar to Amaravati Road was completed at a cost of Rs 29.08 crore in 2014.
Later, the project changed hands as the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) replaced the VGTM UDA after the State bifurcation and announcement of Amaravati as the capital. Under the CRDA, a 4.25 km length road from Swarnabharati Nagar to Palakaluru Road was planned, with an allocation of Rs 33 crore for the stretch.
However, the project hit a bottleneck as the land acquisition for the road was delayed. The residents of Swarnabharati Nagar were reluctant to vacate as 180 houses were needed to be removed to acquire land.
After the completion of the third phase Inner Ring Road, vehicles going towards Hyderabad from Rayalaseema would be able to go without entering Guntur city, reducing traffic congestion.
Additionally, residents of Vidyanagar, Gujjanagundla, Pattabhipuram, SVN Colony, and Stambalagaruvu will be able to access Vijayawada easily via the IRR. In a recent development, Guntur district Collector Nagalakshmi has directed GMC officials to expedite land acquisition and ensure the completion soon. With the new TDP-led NDA government in power, and Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar taking a special interest in speedy completion of incomplete projects, residents are hopeful of the IRR completion soon.