Make Andhra Pradesh pothole-free even in rainy season: CM

Interacting with SEs of all districts, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that the state should have pothole-free roads even in Rainy season. “The department has to become more responsive to people’s complaints and take steps immediately to repair all bad roads in the state. You cannot neglect people’s complaints. You have to respond immediately,” he said, at a review meeting held today in Vijayawada.

Monitoring the quality of roads should be a priority, he said, adding that the department should establish a Research Wing to study the best technologies and practices in the world and implement them.  “If faulty road contractors are found, blacklist them,” he said, emphasising on the need for quality control.

The department also should take the historical data and analyse the wear & tear conditions of the road, the Chief Minister said, adding that the department should be able to predict when to re-lay the roads based on their analysis of soil condition, rains and traffic.

“My aim is to have world-class roads in Andhra Pradesh. Every village should be connected with BT road and every village should have cement roads in the state,” he added.

Explore various models of projects, he said, continuing that they should also set up surveillance cameras on roads for road safety and for continuous monitoring. “Explore how to pool in resources and leverage them scrupulously. Make a difference in the state,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an effort to create a road grid that connects the hinterland of the state and simultaneously links all district headquarters, the Chief Minister said all National Highways should be linked to ports.

These links with ports will boost port-led development by enabling Andhra Pradesh to become a logistics hub.

The Chief Minister said that the Beach Road (NH-216) from Bheemunipatnam to Ongole should be one of the best coastal roads in the country. “This can be modeled based on the Pacific Coast Highway of California. Study how the road passes across the Coast and if there are any tributaries, build a bridge over it,” he explained. “This road should again be linked to inland waterways that we will develop.”

Stating that all the roads in the State should be laid straight without twisting them through villages, the Chief Minister gave an elaborate exercise to ensure that major roads and highways in the state are connected to each other. “We can pass the road through tunnels or bridges and make the experience a memorable one for those traveling,” he added.

The roads connect Kolkata-Vijayawada-Chennai should have an Outer Ring Road connecting Hyderabad on one side, Bangalore on the other, another with Jagdalpur. “This ORR will inter-connect around 7 National Highways,” the Chief Minister added.

Connecting roads through shortest distance possible should be the focus, Chief Minister state, adding that the department should appoint a Consultant and explore all shortest possible connecting roads. “Not only should there be best roads to the hinterland and ports, we should also have best roads leading to other states,” he explained.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister suggested connecting Hyderabad-Kalvakurthi-Tirupati as this will be the shortest route to Chennai. Connect Kadapa-Rajampet-Kodir-Tirupati and explore other connecting options too, he added.

Minister Siddha Raghava Rao, Secretary to CM Sai Prasad, Secretary (R&B) Sam Bob, Joint Secretary to CM A. Rajamouli, NHAI officials and Engineers in Chief, Superintending engineers of the department were present. (INN)