Pothole-free roads by July 15: CM Jagan

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday asserted that all the roads in municipalities and municipal corporations in the State should be free of potholes by July 15 and photo galleries of developed roads should be arranged by July 20.The Chief Minister reviewed the construction and maintenance of roads under the Roads and Buildings and Panchayat Raj and Rural Development departments. 

He said, “The Opposition is hatching conspiracies and working with an agenda to ensure that development works do not go forward. They are making all-out efforts to see that the State government does not get any loans or assistance from the Centre. The Opposition is also creating legal hurdles to see that the development works get stalled. However, the YSRC government is going forward despite the hurdles created by the Opposition.” 

Jagan directed officials to expedite construction of roads, bridges, Road Over Bridges and flyovers in the State. The construction of roads taken up with NABARD Infrastructure Development Assistance (NIDA-I) and under Tribal Welfare and Municipal Administration and Urban Development should also be speeded up. The authorities should focus on completing road works on a war-footing and make them available for the public use at the earliest. Construction of new bridges in the areas affected by Nivar cyclone should be taken up on a priority basis. 

The officials should prepare an action plan for the better maintenance of Panchayat Raj roads, besides constructing new ones to improve road connectivity in rural areas, he averred.The officials informed the Chief Minister that Rs 2,205 crore has been spent on 1,168 repairs and special works of roads under the R&B Department. Of the total, 675 road works have been completed and 491 are in progress. Under NIDA-1, a total of 233 works are being executed at a cost of Rs 2,479.61 crore.In all, 1,843 roads are being constructed under the Panchayat Raj Department at a cost of Rs 1,072.92 crore. Repair works of roads for a length of 4,635 km have also been taken up, they explained.

Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) Budi Muthyala Naidu, Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister Audimulapu Suresh, Roads and Buildings Minister Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao (Raja), Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, Special Chief Secretary (MAUD) Y Srilakshmi, R&B Principal Secretary MT Krishna Babu and other officials attended the meeting.