Vijayawada: The State government has granted administrative approval to strengthen 1,299 rural roads, including four bridges, covering a total of 4,007 kilometers across 26 districts as part of Phase I of the Andhra Pradesh Rural Roads Strengthening Project (APRRSP).

The project will be undertaken with an investment of Rs 2,123 crore through the PRR (Plain) Grant. Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Principal Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar issued the GO Rt No 970 on Tuesday.

According to the order, the selected roads for strengthening are distributed across 157 Assembly constituencies and 484 mandals. The government noted that the funding for this initiative may be sourced from NABARD loans, SASCI, Purvoday Scheme, and Rayalaseema package, depending on available resources.

Previously, the Engineer-in-Chief of Panchayat Raj reported that out of a total of 36,388 km of blacktop and cement concrete rural roads in the State, approximately 15,093 km have been identified as severely damaged through geo-portal assessments. These roads, primarily single-lane bituminous roads, will be reconstructed using pothole filling, Granular Sub-Base (GSB), Wet Mix Macadam (WMM), and bituminous layers in accordance with the standards set by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The Engineer-in-Chief has been instructed to ensure strict quality checks, monitor progress through dashboards, and link project data to the RTGS system.

Detailed lists of the 1,299 roads and four bridges approved in Phase I have been compiled. This GO was issued with the concurrence of the Finance Department, and the Engineer-in-Chief has been directed to take any further necessary actions.