Naidu asks officials to fast-track road projects

‘Land acquisition will become easy if they get highway tag’

February 08, 2017 12:08 am | Updated 12:08 am IST - VIJAYAWADA:

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday asked officials to speed up the process for declaration of the Amarvati-Anantapur expressway and Outer Ring Road (ORR) of Amaravati as national highways.

If this was done, it would be easy to obtain permissions from the Ministry of Forests and also acquire lands.

At a review meeting on roads and buildings held at the interim Secretariat near here, Mr. Naidu said that land acquisition for the expressway should be completed in three months so as to complete the project by 2019.

The expressway of 598.83 km length passes through the districts of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapur.

He asked the Collectors of the five districts to form separate teams for land acquisition. The government would provide necessary staff. A thorough coordination among forest officials and RDOs was required, he said.

Railway officials present at the meeting suggested that speed train track could be constructed along the express way.

The track could be parallel to the expressway.

Earlier, project consultants gave a presentation on the designs of the proposed expressway to connect Amaravati to Bengaluru. They made changes in the alignment following a suggestion from the Chief Minister. The connecting Kadapa-Kurnool roads were designed to prevent passage through the forest area.

AP Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Commissioner Ch. Sridhar, making a presentation on the new alignment of the Amaravati ORR, said that the distance had increased by two km taking the total distance to197.5 km.

Alignment change

Likewise, the length of a tunnel proposed near Mylavaram has come down to 4.5 km from 7.5 km. A change in alignment of 200 metres was made near Guntur, he said.

Mr. Naidu, responding to it, suggested that an eight-lane ORR be thought of to meet future requirements instead of a six-lane road. The three proposed ORRs—Tirupati-Vaikuntamala, Visakha-Soundaryamala and Amaravati-Boudhamala—should be connected to the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor road, he said.

A sum of ₹1,202 crore would be allotted for developing interior and connecting roads. An agency would be floated and a retired police officer appointed as a director to speed up the project.

Benz Circle flyover

The Kanaka Durga flyover under construction and the proposed flyover near the Benz Circle also came up for discussion. Mr. Naidu set a deadline of August 15 for the Kanaka Durga project.

On the Benz Circle flyover, he said the government wanted it to be constructed duly following international standards.

A separate meeting would be convened in two days to take a final decision on the flyover, he said.

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