Minister for Roads and Buildings Dharmana Krishna Das has said the work on the Kanakadurga flyover will be completed by the end of the year, setting yet another deadline for the project that has missed over half a dozen deadlines since 2015.
In his first visit to the site, Mr. Das, along with local MLA and Minister for Endowments Vellampalli Srinivas, Vijayawada Central MLA M. Vishnu and R&B Principal Secretary M.T. Krishna Babu, inspected the ongoing work at the flyover near the VMC office and the Kanakadurga temple on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Das said the contracting firm was asked to complete the works by December 31, 2019, and that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was keen on completion of the flyover before the scheduled time at any cost.
Stating that the previous government had neglected the progress of the construction, Minister Srinivas iterated that the flyover, handled by the State’s R&B Department, remains the top priority of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and hence the R&B Minister’s first-ever official programme was flyover inspection. He added that flyover would be opened as a new year gift to the city.
‘Public help needed’
However, Mr. Srinivas said, the flyover road would be closed down for traffic for one month to speed up the pending works, and he sought the cooperation of the public for the same.
Clarifying that there was no fund crunch, Mr. Babu said the Centre has so far released ₹233 crore of its ₹333 crore share in the project and the State government spent ₹114 crore towards land acquisition.
In addition, the State is bearing the cost of the viaduct (₹12 crore) and an additional burden of ₹25 crore, he added.
At present, 85% of the work has been achieved, according to officials.
