Residents come forward to widen key road in Tirupati
The residents of Korlagunta Maruthinagar Road demolishing their houses as part of road widening in Tirupati on Thursday
Tirupati: In a laudable gesture, the residents of Koralgunta Maruthinagar started removing parts of their constructions paving the way for the widening of the busy road. The members of Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) proposed to widen the road from the existing 20 feet to 40 feet .The corporation has decided to take 10 feet on either side of the road for proposed widening.
The decision was taken at a recent meeting of MCT in view of the future requirement and also to reduce present traffic congestion on the narrow road. The widening of the road was necessitated as the area is thickly populated and is also the core area joining the city with the fast expanding eastern part of the city, including Kattakinda Ooru, Maruthi Nagar, Subhash Nagar, etc.
After the MCT adopted the resolution for widening on Wednesday night, MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, Mayor Dr R Sirisha along with MCT officials visited the area where the widening is proposed and held a protracted discussion with the residents.
The MLA explained the residents about the importance of widening of the road and fervently appealed to them to cooperate with the MCT for developing the city in all aspects, including roads for their own benefits. Most of them came forward to demolish the part of their constructions on their own. The MLA assured them to develop the road as a model road.
He also directed the Town Planning officials to issue TDR bonds to the house owners who lost 10 feet of their land. According to the bond, the MCT should provide equal area of land which the locals are giving up for the road widening at some other place in the city.
Muruga, a tea-stall owner, said it is very difficult even for autos to pass through 1 km-long road and the people going by vehicles are facing a lot of hardships when the traffic got jammed. He said the area got significance as the many officials, businesspersons, politicians, police and other department officials own their houses here. Also, this road is very close to the RTC bus stand.