New greenfield highway to pass through 128 villages in Alluri district

Paderu (ASR district): Alluri Sitarama Raju district is poised for a major infrastructure transformation with the Central government approving a new greenfield high-speed national highway.

Designed as a four- or six-lane corridor, the project forms a vital link in a larger route connecting Kharagpur in West Bengal to Vijayawada through Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

The Central and State governments have directed the district administration to draft a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and initiate land acquisition.

The alignment will traverse multiple mandals, including Araku Valley, Dumbriguda, Hukumpeta, Paderu, G Madugula, Chintapalli, GK Veedhi and Koyyuru.

Overall, land acquisition is expected to impact approximately 128 villages across seven mandals, alongside various reserve and protected forest areas.

This new highway will run parallel to the existing National Highway 516E at several points while charting fresh alignments elsewhere. NH 516E itself is currently under construction at an estimated cost of Rs 1,600 crore, with about 60 per cent of its works already completed. The DPR for the new greenfield project will finalise the exact route, construction specifications, and total land requirements.

By opening a high-capacity transport corridor through remote agency and forest regions, the project aims to drastically improve connectivity between eastern and central India.

While the expansion promises enhanced economic opportunities and better regional integration, navigating the extensive forest and tribal lands during the land acquisition and planning phases will be a critical undertaking for local authorities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deekshitula Subrahmanyam

[email protected]

Deekshitula RV Subrahmanyam is a Staff Reporter with The Hans India, covering the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts, along with Alluri Sitarama Raju and Polavaram districts. A journalist with experience of over three decades, he began his career as a Telugu mofussil reporter in 1991. He writes extensively on politics, tribal affairs, rural development, tourism, development, and human-interest stories He is the author of the six-part Telugu prose Ramayana Sitarama Kathasudha and has received several literary and journalistic honours, including the JCI Young Writer Award, Vadlamudi Rammohan Rao Memorial Award and Madduri Annapurnayya Memorial Award.

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