Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy requested Union minister for road transport and national highways Nitin Gadkari to announce the southern part of the Regional Ring Road (RRR) as a national highway and to grant funds to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) annual plan for this year. He also sought the widening of the Hyderabad – Vijayawada national highway to six lanes.
Revanth Reddy called on Nitin Gadkari in Delhi on Wednesday and apprised the union minister of the widening of national highways, announcement of new national highways and the commencement of works on the roads that have already been declared as national highways.
The chief minister informed the Union minister that the state government would bear half the cost of land acquisition for the 158.645 km stretch of Sangareddy to Narsapur-Toopran-Gajwel-Jagdevpur-Bhongir -Choutuppal road that has already been declared as a national highway. He has appealed to Gadkari to declare the 181.87 km stretch of road from Choutuppal to Amangal-Shadnagar-Sangareddy as a national highway.
Revanth brought to the notice of Gadkari that the tenders for the sanctioned national highway from Hyderabad (ORR Gourelli Junction) to Valigonda-Thorrur-Nellikuduru-Mahabubabad-Kothagudem have been called for only one package of 69 km stretch, and the works have begun.
He recalled Nitin Gadkari’s statement in the Warangal public meeting that this road would be called Jai Sri Ram road, which would reduce the distance by 40 km between Hyderabad and Bhadrachalam. He requested the Union minister to start work immediately as tenders have been called for the remaining three packages (165 km) of this national highway.
Widening of Hyderabad-Vijayawada (NH 65) to six lanes
Expressing serious concerns over the increasing road accidents and loss of lives due to growing vehicular traffic on NH 65, the chief minister has informed Gadkari that the contracting agency has not taken up the six-lane project on the pretext that the vehicular traffic has been reduced after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 and that the agency was not getting any income out of it.
Revanth appealed to the Gadkari to help resolve the dispute between NHAI and the contracting firm, so that works could be taken up for the six-lane road development project on the national highway, that was supposed to be completed by April 2024.
Iconic bridge and the elevated corridor in Amrabad Tiger Reserve
The chief minister also requested the union minister to declare Kalwakurthi to Kolhapur-Somasila-Karivena-Nandyal (NH-167K) road as a national highway and to call for tenders to take up works on the 142 km stretch road part of that road, as the tenders were called for the works of remaining 32 km and the construction of the Iconic Bridge. The distance between Hyderabad and Tirupati will be reduced by 70 km once the proposed national highway is completed.
The union minister has been requested to upgrade the two-lane road between Hyderabad-Kalwakurthy ( NH- 765K) to four lanes. Revanth pointed out that Kalwakurthy-Nandyal highway (NH-167K) will start at 67 km (Kalwakurthy) on Hyderabad-Srisailam route ( NH 167K), and the works for NH 167K highway have already started.
The chief minister also informed Nitin Gadkari that 62 kilometres of the Hyderabad-Srisailam (NH 765) highway came under the purview of Amrabad Tiger Reserve Forest, and the works were not being taken up due to the pending forest clearances. Noting that 7,000 vehicles were plying on this route regularly, Revanth has requested permission for a four-lane elevated corridor in the Amrabad area.
Declaration of National Highway for Manthani
The chief minister also appealed to Nitin Gadkari to declare the Jagityal-Peddapalli-Manthani-Kataram state highway as a national highway and to allocate adequate funds for the same. He explained to the Union minister that the Manthani highway would connect NH-565 and NH-353C, and also provide convenience for the people of Telangana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh to travel. The Manthani highway will also improve connectivity to the Kaleshwaram region, which is called the Kashi of the South, he underlined.
Other issues brought to the notice of Nitin Gadkari
The chief minister said that after declaring Hyderabad-Manneguda four-lane road as the national highway (NH-163) connecting Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the land acquisition has been completed. He submitted that though tenders were called for, the works couldn’t start due to a case pending before the NGT.
Pointing out that the NHAI has agreed to translocate the Banyan trees along this route as per the norms prescribed by the Union ministry of environment, he asserted that the alignment should not be changed at this stage. He requested the Union minister to issue appropriate instructions to the concerned departments so that work could start immediately.
Revanth Reddy also requested the Union minister to sanction 12 ROB/RUB proposals submitted by the State Government in 2023-24 under the Setu Bandhan Scheme.
The chief minister also pleaded with the Union minister to upgrade the national highways – Jagityal-Kataram (130 km), Dindi-Nalgonda (100 km), Bhongiri -Chityal (44 km), Choutuppal-Sangareddy (182 km), Marikal-Ramasamudram (63 km), Wanaparthy-Mantralayam (110 km), Manneguda-Bidar (134 km), Karimnagar-Pitlam (165 km), Erravelli Cross Road-Raichur (67 km), Kothapally-Duddeda (75 km), Sarapaka-EturNagaram (93 km), Duddeda-Rayagiri crossroad (63 km), Jaggayyapeta-Kothagudem (100 km), Sirisilla-Koratla (65 km), Bhutpur-Sirigiripadu (166 km) and Karimnagar-Rayapatnam (60 km) as national highways.
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