VIJAYAWADA: Vehicle users, especially two-wheelers, commuting on the busy stretch of 44 kilometre long Vijayawada - Nuzvid road are having a harrowing time due to the narrow road and bad condition of the road. According to police sources, at least five fatal accidents and 10 minor mishaps are happening on the stretch in an average per month.
The journey on the 40-feet road stretch from Nunna to Nuzvid is nothing less than an adventure and scary for those travelling in night hours. In addition, the bad condition of the road, filled with potholes and incomplete patch works, poses a serious threat for vehicle users.The latest incident occurred on Saturday night hours where an APSRTC bus hit a motorcycle killing two youngsters on the spot and another person received severe injuries.
According to police, three persons Devella Nagaraju, Shaik Yusaf Basha and Seshapu Ravi are construction labourers and went to Nunna to work in a newly constructed building. When they were returning home after finishing work, the motorcycle in which the three travelled was hit by a speeding APSRTC bus killing Nagaraju and Ravi on the spot.
The villagers and residents residing on the stretch are demanding that the officials concerned need to widen the road as there is a huge increase of vehicular traffic between Vijayawada and Nuzvid and many engineering colleges are operating in addition.
“The concerned and public representatives, who are very aware of the bad condition of the road and need for road extension, have not yet come up with any solution to address it properly,” lamented a resident of Nunna, Ameena Begum.
With accidents being reported, commuters are requesting the government to expand the road and to construct a divider. With a cost of `31.5 crore, officials planned to execute road extension and fortification works in 2020. But it did not take off till now. “We are living in fear. I stopped using my scooter and commuting in public transport fearing about the road condition,” a private employee Ganesh said.
When TNIE contacted, deputy engineer of Roads and Building K Babu Rao said that the existing 40-feet road is a result of extension works carried out three years ago and did not received any proposals from higher officials to carry out a survey for further road extension. “Some portion of work got stopped due to delay in payment to the contractor. We are planning to finish the remaining portion as early as possible,” he said.