Six-lane road from Jodugullapalem to Bhogapuram will be a game-changer for Visakhapatnam, says senior official

‘The road will have cycle tracks, pavements and a 10-m green belt on both sides. It will extend from Visakhapatnam to Vizianagaram and Srikakulam’

March 27, 2023 06:54 pm | Updated 07:08 pm IST - VISKHAPATNAM

Y. Srilakshmi, Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department.

Y. Srilakshmi, Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department.

The six-lane road from Jodugullapalem to Bhogapuram, where the new airport is coming up, will be a game-changer for this city, said Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Y. Srilakshmi.

The road has already been sanctioned by Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, and the ministry has already sanctioned funding to the tune of ₹7,800 crore.

In an exclusive chat with The Hindu, on the eve of the G-20 Summit Working Group Committee meeting, which is scheduled to begin here on Tuesday, she said the road will have cycle tracks and good space for pavements and will come up with a 10-metre green belt on both the sides. This road will extend the city of Viskhapatnam to Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, she added.

Visakhapatnam is poised to grow and eventually, the city will extend to Srikakulam, as Bhogapuram airport will be equidistant both from the city and Srikakulam.

With two big ports at Visakhapatnam and one coming up at Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam, the hinterland till Odisha is bound to grow, she added.

Speaking on the G-20 Summit meeting, which is primarily being handled by her department, she said that the city has been spruced to welcome the international delegates.

“We will have delegates from the 20 G-20 countries and another 20 from the European Union,” she added.

Vizag gets facelift

As part of the beautification project, a number of tourist spots have been given a dashing look with selfie points, about 40 km of BT road has been laid, 30-km of footpath have been done up with tiles and wall paintings and others and 26-km greenery have been taken up. This apart, about 21 junctions have been beautified and all these have been done on a permanent basis, she added.

All these have been done up at a cost of about ₹157 crore.

On whether the G-20 meeting will be beneficial to the city and the State, Ms. Srilakshmi said that this working group committee will be discussing ‘Financing cities of tomorrow to be more inclusive. resilient and sustainable’ and this would have something for the cities in Andhra Pradesh. “We expect new projects with funding and the best practices from other countries,” she added.

The G-20 countries contribute to about 85% of the world’s GDP and it is a prestige for India to chair this group and it would be a good branding for Visakhapatnam to showcase its potential, she added.

Apart from taking the delegates to a few tourist spots, they will be taken to the waste-to-energy plant and the floating solar plant at Mudasarlova reservoir.

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