Hundreds of residents of Kanigiri town staged a demonstration here on Monday protesting the expansion of the National Highway 565 from Hyderabad to Yerpedu in Chittoor district.
The road project is aimed at providing a shorter route from Hyderabad to the passengers bound for, among other places, Tirupati and Chennai.
The residents, who formed a committee under the leadership of Madala Suribabu and Madala Subba Rao, demanded that the government divert the highway to run on Kanigiri outskirts sparing their houses and shops.
The highway passing through densely-populated areas of Kanigiri would result in air pollution and more road accidents, they feared.
“As many as 300 houses and shops will be pulled down if the present proposal is implemented,” they complained and wanted the State government to lay the road on Kanigiri outskirts sparing also the ‘Pedda Cheruvu’ main source of drinking water in drought-prone Kanigiri. They submitted a memorandum to Prakasam District Collector G.S.R.K.R.Vijajkumar.
