HYDERABAD: In order to improve road connectivity in the rural areas of the state, the Andhra Pradesh government will lay cement roads to a length of 5,000 km at an expense of Rs 2,000 crore.
Disclosing this to mediapersons at the State Secretariat here on Tuesday, panchayat raj minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu said the government had identified the villages where CC roads would be laid and would begin the work soon.
“We laid 3,500 km CC roads last year and will build 5,000 km roads this year. This will improve road connectivity in rural areas to a large extent,” he said.
Besides, the panchayat raj department had handed over 5,000 km CC roads under its jurisdiction to the roads and buildings department for laying roads, Patrudu said.
“My department has been sanctioned Rs 140 crore for laying approach roads to Krishna Pushkaram ghats in Guntur, Krishna and Kurnool districts. Our aim is to finish the work ahead of Pushkarams so that people will not face problems during the mega event,” he said.
Revenue: In order to improve the financial health of the panchayat raj bodies, the government has directed all the rural local bodies to generate revenue on their own. Patrudu said the government wanted all the PR bodies to improve their revenue so that development works could be taken up.
“We have been able to improve PR bodies’ revenue from Rs 220 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 600 crore in 2015-16,” he added.
