CM Naidu: Complete land acquisition, green clearances for key highway projects by July

Amaravati: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to resolve all issues related to land acquisition, forest and wildlife clearances for ongoing and upcoming state and national highway projects by the end of July. He underscored the need for uninterrupted and accelerated execution of road works across the state.

No more delay, warns CM

The chief minister held a review meeting at the Secretariat on Monday with senior officials and contractors to assess the status of road infrastructure projects. Expressing dissatisfaction over the delays in certain projects, he made it clear that no further delays in road construction will be tolerated.

Officials informed the chief minister that 770 km of roads were completed in the previous financial year under NHAI and MoRTH at a total cost of Rs 11,325 crore.

144 projects under construction worth Rs 76,856 crore

Andhra Pradesh currently has a total of 8,744 kilometres of national highways.

Of these, 4,406 km fall under the jurisdiction of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), 641 km are managed by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), and 3,697 km are maintained under the NH (R&B) wing.

At present, 144 road projects covering a combined length of 3,483 km are under construction in the state, taken up under NHAI and MoRTH at an estimated cost of Rs 76,856 crore. In addition to these, several more projects are in the pipeline and are expected to commence shortly.

Out of the 3,483 km currently under development, 1,392 km are NHAI roads, while 2,091 km fall under the MoRTH portfolio. The chief minister has set an ambitious target to complete 1,040 km of road works in the current year itself. These projects, valued at Rs 20,067 crore, are expected to significantly boost road connectivity and infrastructure in the state.

Andhra on track to become a pothole-free State

The ‘Mission Pothole-Free Roads,’ launched by the chief minister in November last year with an outlay of Rs 860.81 crore, has achieved 97 per cent completion as of June 6.

A total of 19,475 km of roads have been repaired and potholes filled. The remaining road repairs are expected to be completed by July 31.