Vizianagaram: Centre gives nod for National Highway 516-E

Vizianagaram: The Union government and Ministry of Environment and Forests has completed all approvals for extension of national highway between Rajahmahendravaram and Vizianagaram through eastern ghats.

The road will be named after National Highway 516-E. The length of road is 406 kilometres and the three phased project will cost Rs 1,500 crores and passes through Rampachodavaram, Paderu, Araku, Chintapalli and some other agency areas.

Most of the road will have two-lane road and completely passes through the forests and the engineers have to take utmost care and maintain standards for this lane because of the ghat route.

There is a vast National Higway-16 passing between Chennai-Kolkata and both Vizianagaram and Rajahmundry also being connected by the same road. But this proposed new 516-E is completely passes through forest mandals and villages come under East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts.

The motive behind this new project is to provide transportation and road connectivity for these remote villages and to encourage the tourism in eastern ghats.

Deputy Engineer of National Highways K V L Narasimha Rao said "This road is a boon for agency villages and the people living in these agency mandals also can access the proposed executive capital Vizag. Even the medical facilities also will be improved with this road. It will be completed in three years."

He added the State government has already sent the detailed project report to the Union government and it is divided into six packages.

The Centre approved three packages so far which worth Rs 457 crores for 137 kilometers and the road would pass through Rampachodavaram, Koyyuru, Lambasingi, Paderu, Araku and Srungavarapu Kota.

This road was proposed long back and the union government has sanctioned administrative approvals in 2017 but the previous TDP government didn't send the detailed project report. The present government has completed all the DPRs and other details including land to be acquired and details of forest land.