Centre urged to expedite road works

​Hyderabad: The State government has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to expedite the national highways development works in the State with a focus on road safety to avert the accidents besides giving special financial assistance.

Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma asked NHAI president Raghava Chandra to speed up the works on road safety, black-spots causing accidents and other places of accident-prone areas on various national highways in the State, when Chandra called on him at the Secretariat here on Thursday. Chandra asked Sharma to send the proposals on the said works to him.

The NHAI offered top priority to road safety to bring down the accidents that are proving fatal in some cases. It also offered to give 10 per cent of funds for the related projects to be done by the contractor, Raghava Chandra said.

When Rajiv Sharma sought funding for taking up plantation on the national highways, Raghava Chandra offered to give Rs 1,500 for each sapling at a proportion of planting 800 saplings along a stretch of one kilometre.

He also informed that there was no compromise on the road safety issue as the recently held meeting in Delhi focused on the same and decided to give powers to regional officers to complete the works on a war-footing.

The State government is ready to offer all forest permissions for developing Yadagirigutta and Warangal highway into a four-lane highway and revised proposals for the following roads will be submitted soon to the NHAI to coordinate with state highways authorities. They are Sangareddy-Nanded-Akola (NH-161), Jagtial-Karimnagar-Warangal (NH-63), Kodad-Khammam (NH 365-A).

Directing the officials to give permissions for electricity and utility shifting works, Rajiv Sharma said that the government would take steps for land acquisition for roadside amenities at Veliminedu and Akupamula on Hyderabad and Vijayawada national highway (NH-65) and take steps to provide land for a regional office for NHAI in the State.