According to government sources, the state, being a partner of NDA, is able to get road projects sanctioned for the state without much difficulty from the centre
Published Nov 02, 2024 | 5:41 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 02, 2024 | 5:41 PM
Chandrababu Naidu kicks off "pothole free roads" programme (CMO Andhra Pradesh on X)
As the roads in Andhra Pradesh resemble lunar surface, the TDP-led NDA government has decided to fill all the potholes on all important highways in the state.
Kicking off the “pothole-free roads” programme at Vennelapalem in Anakapalli district on Saturday, 2 November, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu took a swipe at previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for leaving the state with roads full of potholes and deep trenches.
He said: “You all know how deep and wide the trenches had become. It was very difficult to drive on the road. It used to be a living nightmare. In the rainy season, they used to turn into cesspools. At some places the trenches were so wide, the children swam in water that filled them up whenever there was rain. Escobar has left so many swimming pools in Andhra Pradesh while leaving office,” he said.
Naidu is in the habit of likening former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar whenever he launches an attack on him.
But Naidu was not exaggerating the road situation. When the BRS was in power in Telangana, the then IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao, in April, 2022, took potshots at Andhra Pradesh for the deplorable state the roads were in, though he later sought to dilute the import of his comments saying they were “innocuous” in nature. He made the comments at a meeting while urging the investors to move to Hyderabad, which evoked sharp reaction from YSRCP ministers.
On Saturday, Chandrababu Naidu began the work of filling the potholes by taking a shovel and filling one such pothole himself. Later he ran a road roller over the filled potholes. Later speaking at a public meeting, he recalled how backbreaking a drive on the roads used to be when Jagan Mohan Reddy was the chief minister.
After coming to power, the TDP government has embarked on the mission to improve the condition of the roads by setting for itself Sankranti as a deadline. It is identifying potholes using drones for filing them immediately. “It is our responsibility to build roads without potholes. Quicker and efficient transportation catalyzes growth,” the chief minister said.
The Roads and Buildings department has already made the necessary arrangements to take up the programme on a mission mode. The state government has already released Rs. 290 crore for building new roads. Apart from this, the department will release Rs. 350 crore for repairing roads while utilising Rs.220 crore funds available with the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA)for the same purpose.
The state government is using state of the art technology in filling potholes. The R and B department has already signed an MoU with SRM University and IIT-Tirupati for making them partners in this endeavour. R and B Minister B C Janardhan Reddy visited Gujarat and Assam recently and studied how new technology was being used to laying roads and make repairs to the existing roads under public private partnership mode.
He has studied the Road Asset Management system that is in place in these states. The government said it was studying how these best practices could be replicated in Andhra Pradesh.
According to government sources, the state, being a partner of NDA, is able to get road projects sanctioned for the state without much difficulty from the centre. In a visit to Delhi along with chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently, the R&B Minister met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and secured clearance.
In a visit to Delhi along with chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently, the R and B Minister met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and secured clearance for several projects. As a result, in the state, at present National Highways works of a value of Rs. 76,000 crore were in various stages of execution. This apart, the government intends to take up new road projects worth Rs.30,000 crore in the near future.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
