Nagarjunasagar highway towards Macherla temporarily closed by AP Police

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh police have temporarily closed Nagarjunasagar highway towards Macherla without any official announcement or intimating its counter parts, said Telangana police.

A large number of commuters travelling to Andhra Pradesh taking the Hyderabad-Nagarjunasagar highway were turned down. A few commuters, left with no option, had to travel another 110 km towards Nalgonda district and enter AP via Vadepally border.

“ There were no sign boards nor any official communication at the Narjunasagar highway. The AP police, deployed on the other end of the border, refused to allow us citing ‘highway closed’. Telangana police were clueless regarding the development. We had to travel another 100 km extra via interior Nalgonda district to reach Vadepally border,”said Sunil Kumar, a commuter.

Notably, the central government has given its nod for inter-state travel via air, road and rail. Andhra Pradesh is the only state which still continues to follow travel restrictions.

When this correspondent checked with a district superintendent, who requested for anonymity, the officer said, “There was no official communication issued. When I personally dialled the AP police, they said a government order was issued. When I checked, the list of inter-state border check-posts did not mention Nagarjuna Sagar highway. How can public know when there is no announcement?”

The officer also said that the highway was closed because AP did not have enough infrastructure like ambulances with paramedics, health check up cubicles. Facilities to disinfect the vehicles, separate rest rooms for males & females, permanent buildings to accommodate not less than 500 persons ad adequate number of medical officers to check people suffering from Covid-like symptoms.

Entry by Road: For facilitating entry of stranded persons by road, the following inter-state border check posts were notified.

1. Purushottauram (SKLM)- Odisha

2. Dachepalli (GNTR), Panchalingala (KRNL), Garikapadu (KRI) Tiruvuru (KRI), Jeelugumilli (WG)- Telangana

3. Palamanair (CTR), Penugonda (ATP)- Karnataka