First hilltop road in Nellore district due by month-end

Nellore: Sangam village will be having a new attraction with the first of its kind hilltop road in the district. This is expected to reduce a distance of 1.8 km besides giving a nice travel experience to the commuters on the highpoint with greenery, bridges and passage for floodwater etcetera for protecting the highway.

“The road would be a feast to the eyes of the commuters with slowly moving Penna River, greenery on the hill, and Beeraperu canal, Sangam village and barrage, Tiramana Tippa, Erra Cheruvu and the newly developed bridges and floodwater passage.

1,700 trees have been cut down as part of construction and now we are planting 3,400 saplings freshly to compensate the loss of greenery,” said an official. The highway would possibly be completed by end of this month, say official sources. The hilltop road is being constructed close to Sangam mandal headquarter on the Nellore-Bellary-Mumbai National Highway No. 67 which is 30 km away from the district headquarters.

The 2.2 km long hilltop road works are being taken up with Rs. 23 cr. The road has less curves since contract agency had proposed to take up in a straight way using advanced construction technology like Pavement Quality Concrete with 16 metres of width with necessary protection measures to lessen possible mishaps on the way.

So, the state government had acquired one hectare of land from the forest department for Rs. 48.50 lakh for designing the road for hassle-free travel.In fact, the district has ghat roads in Rapur, Sitaramapuram, Marripadu and other areas but they are inter-district ways connecting both Kadapa and Nellore districts. Vehicles that move from Nellore to Atmakur have to cross the village, Sangam, travelling around the hill for 4 km. 50 electric towers would also be installed along the highway.

By P V Prasad