Mega facelift to roads with Rs. 2,500-cr outlay
- The state govt is taking up road development works across the state to improve connectivity
- R&B minister Janardhan Reddy directs officials to prioritise 650 km of pending works and use drone surveys for monitoring
Vijayawada: Road sand buildings (R&B) minister B C Janardhan Reddy said that the state government is taking up extensive road development works worth nearly Rs 2,500 crore this year to improve road connectivity across Andhra Pradesh.
The minister held a review with senior R&B officials at the ENC (engineer-in-chief) office in here on Wednesday. He instructed the chief engineer–level officials to personally monitor the condition of roads at the field level and ensure quality in execution.
Janardhan Reddy directed officials to identify completely damaged roads and categorize them into three priority groups for phased development. He asked them to give top priority to 650 km of works that were earlier cancelled under NDB and CRIF schemes. The minister said a meeting with NDB contractors will be held soon to expedite pending works and ensure early completion.
He said that prompt bill payments to contractors would encourage them to take up remaining works actively. The minister also suggested exploring the use of drone surveys to assess road conditions across the state.
Further, he said that priority will be given to rebuilding fully damaged bridges, and instructed officials to start development works on about 10 partially constructed bridges. He also proposed the experimental construction of eco-friendly roads using steel slag-based “eco pavers” in selected areas.
Highlighting the need for innovative funding, Janardhan Reddy said that about four road projects requiring neither land acquisition nor viability gap funding should be developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. With Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) already completed for these projects, he urged officials to expedite their implementation.
The minister also advised officials to identify vacant R&B lands suitable for PPP-based development and to fill AE/AEE vacancies quickly by appointing eligible engineering assistants from village secretariats.
Special chief secretary M T Krishna Babu, AP Road Development Corporation (AP RDC) chairman Pragada Nageswara Rao and other officials were present.
