Hyderabad: Officials of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) have informed the Telangana government that the works for construction of the six-lane Hyderabad- Vijayawada national highway (NH 65) will commence within two months.
On Wednesday, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy held a high-level review meeting on the problems being faced by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of roads in Telangana, with the higher officials of NHAI at Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat.
During the meeting, Roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy asked NHAI project member Anil Chaudhary to start the works immediately, as the land acquisition for the highway has already been completed.
Construction of gravel roads along the national highways
The proposal to build gravel roads along the national highways for the use of agricultural vehicles and farmers was discussed. Chaudhary said that the matter will be taken into consideration. The chief minister opined that the gravel roads will not only be useful for the farmers, but also for road expansions in the future by NHAI in Telangana.
RRR land acquisition
The Telangana Chief Minister also brought to the attention of NHAI officials that Union minister for road transport and national highways Nitin Gadkari has in principle agreed to consider the southern part of the Regional Ring Road (RRR) and the northern part of the same as one, and assignment of a single number to both of its parts.
Revanth Reddy inquired about the obstacles in land acquisition in the northern part of RRR. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Collector Hanmanth K Zendage informed him that some farmers have approached the High Court due to a mistake in the road-alignment, and that the court has granted a stay. The chief minister ordered the collector to file a counter to vacate the stay by Friday.
He asked the officials to take necessary steps by entering a tripartite agreement between the State government, the Centre, and NHAI, so that the project could be executed immediately.
Nagpur-Vijayawada highway land acquisition issues
The chief minister inquired about the status of land acquisition on the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor in Khammam district by the NHAI. Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, who participated in the video conference from Khammam, said that the proposed road would pass through the costly lands near Khammam, and the farmers will be convinced about the compensation.
The minister also said that the NHAI’s proposal to convert the national highway from Khammam to Ashwaraopet into a state highway should not be accepted, as the work on Tallada-Devarapalli green field road was already in progress.
Deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka appealed to the NHAI officials to construct service roads at big villages and also underpasses at necessary places so that farmers will go to their fields on the road that was being constructed as part of the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor.
Act in a humane manner while acquiring land for highways: CM
Revanth Reddy instructed the district collectors to act in a humane manner during the land acquisition for construction of the national highways. Officials were asked to compensate the farmers as per the rules.
The collectors informed him that farmers were not willing to part with their lands, as the market value of those lands was high, whereas the registration prices were low. The chief minister too conceded that the farmers were not ready to lose their lands, since they owned it for generations. He has advised the collectors to hold a meeting with the farmers and convince them.
Transfer of forest lands for highways
When the issue of transfer of forest lands to construct Armoor-Jagtial-Mancherial and Vijayawada-Nagpur corridor roads came for discussion, the chief minister asked the collectors of Nizamabad, Manchiryala and Mahabubabad districts to allocate government lands as compensation for the forest lands.
The revenue and forest department officials were advised to coordinate with each other on the transfer of lands for the construction of roads.
The chief minister also directed the authorities to start the construction of Hyderabad-Manneguda road works immediately, to which the NHAI officials agreed. he also asked the collectors to submit reports on the extension of national highways in their district by end of this month.
