Tummala’s induction raises hopes of harried road users

Yellendu crossroads, arguably the most treacherous spot in Khammam district, has witnessed as many as 300 accidents in the last one year

A plethora of long pending issues relating to the much-delayed road works mainly in tribal sub-plan mandals and several deficiencies in road infrastructure in the district are awaiting the urgent attention of the new Roads and Buildings Minister, Tummala Nageswara Rao, the sole representative from the district in the Telangana Cabinet.

The allotment of the crucial Roads & Buildings portfolio to Mr. Rao, who held the same portfolio during his stint in the TDP government over a decade ago, renewed the hopes of speedy completion of the long-delayed road projects such as the Yellendu-Gundala road development works, among the road users in the district.

Although several deadlines set for completion of the development works on a 54-km stretch of road between Yellendu and Gundala in Kothagudem division have expired in the last four years, the long drawn out project, taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 90 crore, has remained incomplete till date.

Work on a 10-km stretch of the road has been held up due to lack of forest clearance for long, sources added.

Several elected representatives of the local bodies have organised a slew of protests resenting the inordinate delay in completion of the road development works and the untold hardships being faced by the road users in both Gundala and Yellendu mandals.

This apart, the much-awaited four-laning of Khammam-Suryapet main road continue to elude the road users. Although the previous Congress government mooted a proposal to this effect, it is yet to take a concrete shape.

The accident-prone spots identified in a survey by the personnel of GVK EMRI (108 Services) on highways and main roads in the district also await remedial action to prevent recurring road accidents.

The survey has identified a total of 213 accident-prone spots on the highways and main roads passing through the district. Some of the problematic spots found in the survey include Yellendu cross-roads near Kothagudem and the causeway across the Palair riverbed in Kusumanchi mandal.

The survey revealed that a staggering number of around 300 road accidents have occurred in a radius of seven km from Yellendu cross-roads in Kothagudem mandal in the last one year. However, officials of the departments concerned attribute the majority of the road accidents to reckless driving or human error.

“Work on the Yellendu-Gundala main road, barring over 10-km stretch of the road in the forest area, is almost over,” said P Satish, Superintending Engineer, R & B Department, Khammam.

When contacted, he said around 26 acres of land has already been identified for compensatory afforestation in lieu of the existing road on the forest stretch for the purpose of the Yellendu-Gundala road development works.