Keep highways pothole-free: Chandrababu Naidu

Amaravati: There should not be any potholes anywhere on the highways in the state, said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in a review meeting on Roads and Buildings on Thursday at his residence at Undavalli in Guntur.

He asked the officials to conduct regular inspections and ensure that issues like water stagnation, irregular growth of shrubs and drainage overflows are resolved with utmost priority with the help of CCTV cameras and drones.

Speaking on the status of ongoing construction of roads and bridges in the state, the Chief Minister asked the officials to strictly adhere to the set timelines and that no delays would be tolerated on this matter.

He directed the officials to ensure that the contractors and companies are focusing on quality and durability along with the timelines and that any irregularities in this matter would have serious consequences.

The officials informed Chandrababu Naidu that data and status of 42,000 kilometre road network under APRMS has been updated in the RDBMS software and regular inspections are being held. 

The Chief Minister was also told that currently the state has 53,403 km road network out of which 6,401 km are national highways, 13,604 km are state highways and the remaining 32,280 km accounts for the district highways.

Additionally, around 1,810 km mud roads will be developed into tar (black top) roads and this project would cost Rs 1,550 crore. The Chief Minister asked the officials to see that all the village roads are made into BT roads by 2021.

On the status of clearance of potholes, an official informed that 91 per cent of potholes were repaired and cleared on the major highways with a budget of Rs 4,472 crore and the rest of the 9 per cent would be finished by taking the help of road ambulances.

Naidu asked the officials to ensure that all the pothole works are finished by August 15, 2018 and also directed them to ensure that all the road connecting villages to district headquarters and major towns are in a top notch condition.

The Chief Minister directed officials to add a further 4,000 km of road network to the state in the coming five years. Setting a target for the coming days, he asked the officials to refurbish 120 bridges which are up for renovation.

He asked the authorities to take care of the traffic congestion on the highways as well by developing 1,810 km highway network by 2021-22 and construct 570 km BT roads with a budget of Rs 500 crore this year.

Officials told the Chief Minister that 70 per cent works related to the construction of Kanakadurga flyover were completed. Naidu said that he would not tolerate any inefficiency on the flyover works and told them it must be completed by January 26.

Roads & Buildings Minister, CH Ayannapatrudu, Special Chief Secretary, Satish Chandra, Additional Secretary, A.V. Rajamoulii, Principal Secretary (R&B) Neerabh Kumar Prasad also attended the meeting.