A majority of businessmen who own various shops alongside the Machilipatnam port road on Tuesday gave their consent for widening the road, allowing the civic body to undertake the task on a war footing.
Law Minister K. Ravindra, Municipal Chairperson M. Baba Prasad and Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority Vice-Chairman M. Venugopala Reddy held talks with the businessmen at the district library here.
The officials explained the proposal of developing it into a 65-foot-wide road by removing all the 85 shops along the road. Town planning records show that shop owners had encroached portions of the port road, whose actual width was 100 feet. The civic body had a plan to widen the road up to 100 feet but had to withdraw the proposal following representations from the businessmen.
Mr. Ravindra made it clear to the businessmen that the civic body would go for land acquisition as the land belongs to the government if they did not agree to widening of the road. The businessmen expressed their wiliness to vacate the shops by the month-end on the promise made by the civic authorities to provide them a suitable location to shift their business units.
‘To meet future needs’
“About ₹1 crore fund is available and works will commence by the month-end,” said Mr. Ravindra. Widening of the road was the need of the hour as it would become busy once the proposed deep sea port became operational.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has sanctioned ₹15 crore for widening of Kennedy Road, which is part of the National Highway 214. The highway passes through the port town.
“The NHAI has pledged to take up widening of Kennedy Road and sanctioned funds under the Safety Always on All Roads (SAFAR) project,” added Mr. Ravindra.
Earlier, a group of public representatives led by Machilipatnam Member of Parliament K. Narayana appealed to the NHAI authorities to develop Kennedy Road or transfer it to the State Roads and Buildings Department.
