Road repairs underway on large-scale, says CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy looks at the photographs comparing the condition of roads during the previous TDP regime and now, at his camp office in Tadepalli on Wednesday
Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday dismissed the Opposition criticism of 'bad roads' in the state as part of its 'motivated agenda' as the state government had undertaken repairs to the R & B roads at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore and the panchayat raj roads at a cost of Rs 1,072.92 crore. He was reviewing the progress of road works in the state.
He asked the officials to ensure completion of most of the works in a year so that no complaints of any potholes would be received again. Stating that most of the roads got damaged due to the heavy rains and cyclones in recent times, the Chief Minister said remarkable improvement should be noticed in their condition shortly.
He advised the officials to publicise the funds being spent on the roads compared to the previous government and educate the people on the 'political motives' of the Opposition and a section of the media in tarnishing the image of the government. Focus should be laid on all approach roads to bridges, pending bridges and road over bridges so that no road work was left incomplete, he said. These works should be undertaken on a war footing, he said.
Several bridges and culverts in the erstwhile Kadapa district, Chittoor and Nellore districts had been damaged last year and all those should be repaired. In all, 7,804 km of R & B roads were being repaired while 522 works worth Rs 947 crore had been completed out of a target of 1,168 works. All pending bills should be cleared immediately and there should be no delay in the works, he said.
The government had earmarked Rs 2,479 crore for 233 road bridges in the state and already Rs 2,000 crore had been spent. All Phase-1 works must be over by August-end, he said. The second phase would see completion of 33 RoB works at a cost of Rs 816.51 crore.
Under the New Development Bank aided road works, Rs 3,014 crore road works were to be completed for a length of 1,244 km. Phase-1 works would begin by the end of this month and the second phase works would begin in December. In all, Rs 6,400 crore would be spent on the roads under the programme. The Chief Minister also listed the projects undertaken by the National Highways which are under various stages.