Harshavardhan Reddy raises issue of Somashila Siddeshwaram bridge in Telangana Assembly - Avoid AP like boat tragedy in Telangana

Nagarkurnool: Referring to the recent boat capsizing accident in River Godavari in Andhra Pradesh in which more than 30 people lost their lives, Kollapur MLA Harshavardhan Reddy raised the issue of Somashila Siddeshwaram Bridge across the Krishna River in the Telangana Assembly on Tuesday and urged the government's attention to construct the bridge at the earliest.

In fact, earlier also more than 60 people lost their lives when a country-made boat carrying 60 people sank in the Krishna River few years back. In the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the Congress government had allocated some funds for the construction of the bridge, but due to unknown reasons the project was just confined to survey and later on no one bothered to take up the issue.

"The Somashila Siddeshwaram bridge will act as a lifeline for the development of Kollapur. Thousands of people are risking their lives by travelling on country boats to cross the river," the TRS MLA said.

"Even though earlier governments had proposed the Somashila Siddeshwaram Bridge to connect Telangana and Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh, due to unknown reasons this project was dumped. We have requested the State government to intervene into the matter and allocate budget for the project and pave way for the development of Kollapur constituency," said the MLA. At present people who want to go to Atmakur, Nandikotkur and Nandyal from kollapur have to traverse 140 kilometres and should go round the banks of Krishna touching Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. If the bridge over the Krishna River at Somashila is constructed connecting Siddeshwaram in Andhra Pradesh it will reduce the distance to just 40-45 kilometres and will help facilitate people to people connectivity and help improve business and enhance development of the region in all aspects.