The Government of Telangana has decided to book cases of violation and take action against those who drive their tractors with cage wheels and thus cut up roads.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, Secretary (Roads & Buildings) Sunil Sharma said District Collectors, Superintendents of Police and Superintending Engineers of the department should ensure that no tractor came out on to the road without having its wheels covered with a smooth metal strip that would not cut the road.
“Tractor owners use typical tyres with cage wheels to work on the fields. When they come on to the main road, the cage wheels cut up the road margins. If they make it a point to cover the cage wheels/tyres with a metal strip, it will result in a saving of anywhere between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,000 crore for the government by way of reduced road maintenance,” he explained. “The savings to the government apart, it will mean considerable diesel savings because of reduced drag on the engine,” Mr. Sharma pointed out.
He said the government had taken up a massive programme that included improvement of roads connecting mandal headquarters with district headquarters by widening an extent of 1,996 km and double-laning in 149 mandal headquarters at a cost of Rs. 2,585 crore. Double-laning of major district roads/State highways up to 2,721 km at a cost of Rs. 3,704 crore and periodic maintenance at a cost of Rs. 2,400 crore was also being planned.
Also, new bridges across the Godavari and Krishna rivers, widening of narrow ones and reconstruction of some weak bridges at Rs. 1,974 crore and widening of State highways up to a length of 14 km and 65 km leading to Nizamabad and Khammam towns respectively at Rs. 410 crore and ring roads for Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Gajwel were planned, Mr. Sharma informed.
