Vijayawada: Road sand buildings (R&B) minister B C Janardhan Reddy on Thursday directed officials to ensure that all R&B roads in the state are made pothole-free by Sankranti, in line with the instructions of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The minister held a video conference with senior R&B officials of the combined Krishna, West Godavari and East Godavari districts, during which he reviewed the present condition of roads and the progress of ongoing works. He also extended Christmas greetings to all officials who participated in the meeting.

Janardhan Reddy instructed that the entire 10,880 km length of R&B roads in the three districts — comprising 3,312 km of state highways and 7,575 km of major district roads — should be restored to a completely pothole-free condition. He made it clear that any potholes identified must be repaired without fail by January 10, 2026, and all R&B roads in the three districts should be made pothole-free by the time of the Sankranti festival.

Recalling the condition of roads when the coalition government assumed office, the minister said the R&B department had taken the poor state of roads as a challenge and carried out large-scale improvements.

He noted that during the previous Sankranti season, visitors from neighbouring States as well as local residents had expressed satisfaction over the improved road conditions in Andhra Pradesh. He added that public satisfaction at the grassroots level regarding road development had visibly increased under the present coalition government, and that the Chief Minister had on several occasions expressed satisfaction over the progress of road works.

Stressing the need to maintain the same momentum, Janardhan Reddy directed officials to complete all road repair works on a war footing so that there would be no inconvenience to vehicle movement after Sankranti.

He instructed that all sanctioned works related to upgradation, development and annual maintenance of State highways, district and other roads in the three districts should be completed by June 2026.

The minister also asked officials to ensure that all bills related to pothole-free road works and other restoration works are uploaded by January 2026. He directed officials to extend full cooperation to contractors in bill preparation and uploading, and to ensure timely payments.

Officials informed the minister that works sanctioned for a total road length of 1,775 km would be completed by June 2026. The minister said he had orally approved the proposal of the engineer-in-chief (R&B) to fix the tender period for State roads and State highway works at one week. He assured that all bills related to pothole-free road works and other rehabilitation works would be released.

He further instructed that any issues arising before January 10, 2026 should be resolved immediately to ensure roads remain pothole-free. Emphasising continuous monitoring, the Minister said the department was closely overseeing road development works to provide better roads to the public as per the Chief Minister’s directions.

AP RDC managing director Srinivas Reddy, R&B engineer-in-chief Vivekananda Reddy, and senior R&B officials, including DEs and EEs from the three districts attended the meeting.