Expressing his dismay and sharing the concern of the citizens about the condition of roads in the capital, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called for total rebuilding of the city thoroughfares to make them long-lasting with the help of new technologies available worldwide.
Presiding over a meeting in his camp office with top civic officials and cement manufacturers to discuss about the bad road conditions and measures to improve them here on Wednesday, Mr. Rao wanted a proper study to look into the roads revamp proposal following the standards approved by the Indian Road Congress (IRC).
A stretch of 100 k.m. should be taken as a ‘pilot project’ for building modern roads of four to six lanes in the twin cities with facility of a common underground duct for taking in power, telecom cables, side drains, footpaths for pedestrians, etc. Noting that the capital roads got ‘gridlocked’ years ago, he observed that citizens are facing the brunt due to the potholes, digging for infrastructure works and water logging.
People’s cooperation should be sought for the works. Roads along the Metro Rail corridors and also those in the suburbs were in a pathetic state and wanted the civic authorities to pay special attention to them. It does not mean dumping bitumen or pour concrete on bad stretches as it would only lead to increase of road height. Rather it is better to remove old layers and lay afresh, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the cement manufacturers had come forward to assist the Government in laying white topped roads. Calling for expediting the proposed parking complexes, Mr. Rao also wanted the metro stations to have proper parking spaces and last-mile transport for riders.
The South Central Railway is building Cherlapalli and Nagulapalli as alternate terminals so as to lessen the burden on Secunderabad station. Similarly, more bus terminals are necessary in addition to Imlibun. Mayor B. Rammohan, Municipal Minister K.T. Rama Rao, and Indian Cements Chairman N. Srinivasan were present.
