Kavali SR Puram road to be upgraded as NH

Nellore: The state government has planned to give a facelift to the Kavali-Seetharamapuram road, which connects interior parts of Nellore, Kadapa, and Prakasam districts, keeping in view of heavy traffic in future after completion of Ramayapatnam Port in Prakasam district.

The 105-km long road in the district connects several interior upland mandals of Nellore and the proposed project reduces traffic congestions and reduce difficulties of commuters besides hassle-free transportation of goods from neighbouring districts.

The government which recognised the significance of road, sought Rs 450 crore from the Centre for completing the project-NH 167BG, a secondary route of NH 67, and handed over it to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) during this February for initiating the works. However, the works were delayed due to lockdown restrictions since March ending and the subsequent pandemic scenario.

In fact, this road is being maintained by the state Road and Buildings department which gives connectivity to Kavali, Jaladanki, Kaligiri, Vinjamuru, Duttaluru, Udayagiri, and Seetharamapuram mandals in Nellore district. On an average, around 4,000-5,000 vehicles commute on the important road where travellers take diversion at Duttaluru towards Prakasam district and move straight towards Kadapa.

The commuters are facing difficult situation on the double-lane in case of huge traffic. Even though there were proposals to upgrade the road a decade ago, there have been no sincere efforts from the politicos for addressing troubles of people.

"As the state government had planned a port at Ramayapatnam in Prakasam district, the proposed highway plays an important role for transporting various materials from Kadapa and Prakasam districts. This would become an important connectivity and the State government proposed to upgrade it as a four-lane highway," said an official from the NHAI.

If the project becomes a reality, there would be good connectivity between NH-16 at Kavali, NH 565 at Duttalur, NH 167B at Seetharamapuram. NH 67 also joins the proposed highway enroute from Ramanagar in Karnataka up to Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore.

On the request of the legislators from Kavali and Udayagiri Assembly constituencies, the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy requested recently the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for allocation of Rs 450 crore for completion of the works. Sources said the administration has to focus on teething problems as other important road projects in the district have been delayed due to land acquisition and other issues.