A low-key affair: AP flyover set for opening on September 4

Amaravati: Any State government would normally celebrate the inauguration of major flyover/s completed during its tenure and take credit for the same in a big way. However, the AP government is wary of doing so in case of the two most prestigious projects - Kanakadurga Flyover and Benz Circle Flyover - that are all set for inauguration on September 4 by Union Minister for Highways Nitin Gadkari. These two are in fact the projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had begun during the tenure of the previous government. Nitin Gadkari had taken personal interest in speeding up the projects.

Not to miss a chance, the TDP has been quick to point out that the incumbent government was unduly attempting to take credit for the same. This has led to a counter from the ruling party, which claimed that the TDP could not complete the projects on time.

The TDP retorted saying that this was an NHAI project and there have been technical problems faced by the contractor, including non availability of sand in last one and half years. They said the six-lane Kanakadurga flyover is one of its kind seen only in metropolitan cities of Delhi and Mumbai. This Varadhi is a beam bridge spanning across river Krishna and is third longest road bridge in Andhra Pradesh.

This flyover has been of particular interest to both the political parties which have been sparring over it from the beginning. These two bring major relief to the citizens of Vijayawada as well to the highway traffic, mostly consisting of heavy duty trucks.

Official circles say that the state government does not want a fresh political bout over the inauguration of the two flyovers, which could mar the inaugural atmosphere in the presence of the Union Minister. Secondly, the BJP factor too is being taken into account which too is a claimant to the credit. "Any serious spat with the TDP in this regard might arraign the BJP alongside the former and this is not a good idea now," sources said. Hence, it is said that the scale of the publicity will be a low key affair.