VIJAYAWADA: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated and dedicated the Kanaka Durga flyover and Benz Circle Flyover-1 in Vijayawada to the nation on Friday.
At the event, which was conducted via videoconferencing, Gadkari also dedicated the nine National Highway projects in the state to the nation and laid the foundation stone for 61 projects in Andhra Pradesh. These 61 projects — which include 16 bridges and 1,411 km of highways — are estimated to cost Rs 15,592 crore.
Gadkari described the 2.6 km-long six-lane Kanaka Durga flyover as the “pride of the nation”, and recalled laying the foundation stone for the project in 2015. The flyover was built at a cost of Rs 502 crore using a spine and wing design supported on a single pier.
The project was to be completed in 18 months, but took more than four-and-a-half years to be ready for use. Soma Constructions, which executed it, was also involved in the Krishna Pushkaralu work, for which the deadlines were missed a couple of times.
The project was also delayed as bills of several crore rupees that were due to the company were not cleared. Over the last 16 months, the State government focused on getting the project completed.
Gadkari said Andhra Pradesh had 4,193 km of National Highways in 2014, and this has now increased to 6,860 km. “In the last six years, 2,667 km of National Highways, that is 67 per cent of the total NH network in AP till 2014, were developed,” he said.
The Union minister added that in the last six years projects worth Rs 32,250 crore were sanctioned to the State, and Rs 24,225 crore was released. By 2021, as many as 28 projects worth Rs 8,869 crore and covering 651 km are to be completed, while projects worth Rs 11,712 crore will be awarded, he said.
Gadkari said there are two important ones - making six lanes on the Renigunta-Naidupet road (estimated to cost Rs 2,225 crore) and on an 85 km stretch of the Express Highway in Andhra Pradesh between Chennai and Bangalore (estimated to cost Rs 5,175 crore).
Gadkari said highest priority is being accorded to ensure the aspirations of the people of the State are met. He said there are 24 projects for port connectivity, with a length of 404 km, with an estimated cost of Rs 7,400 crore.
Regarding the expressway connecting Bengaluru and Vijayawada (Anantapur Amaravati Expressway) and the ring road connecting NH-16 and NH-65, the minister said problems regarding land acquisition, cost of construction, possibilities of waiving royalty on aggregate, GST on steel and cement can be resolved, and invited the Chief Minister and officials to New Delhi next month for discussions.
The Chief Minister said the pace of constructing National Highways has increased from 12 km per day in 2014 to 30 km per day now. Thanking Gadkari for laying the stones for 16 projects worth 7,584 crore, inaugurating 10 projects worth Rs 8,038 crore, and giving consent to proposals for providing four-lane roads and connectivity to tribal areas, Jagan requested the Union minister to sanction a few more projects.
“You sanctioned funds to the tune of Rs 2,611 crore from the Central road fund during the previous regime but the State did not get any sanction in 2019-20 and 2020-21 after our government took over,” he said, and made eight requests to Gadkari, which include construction of 189 km of roads on the eastern side of the proposed ring road. “As you are aware that our government is developing Vizag as the executive capital, it is important to develop alternate connectivity from Vizag to Bhogapuram Airport. I request you to take over Beach Road and develop a four-lane coastal highway up to the airport,” he said.
Road accidents
The Union minister, who was all praise for the Tamil Nadu government for decreasing the number of road accidents by 25 per cent, emphasised the need to reduce the road accidents in Andhra Pradesh. He said that every year 5 lakh road accidents happen in the country, resulting in 1.5 lakh fatalities. “Give highest priority to saving the lives of people. We have to reduce the number of accidents,” he said. Stating that the World Bank and Asian Development Bank are ready to sanction Rs 14,000 crore to improve road engineering in black spots, Gadkari said 435 black spots have been identified in AP NHs, and temporary rectification measures have been completed for 295 black spots, and permanent measures for 150. The rest are to be completed by December 2021, he said.