State to get Rs 3,500 crore for roads in agency

HYDERABAD: The state government is likely to get Rs 3,500 crore in April from the Union ministry of road transport and highways for construction of 138 roads and 26 bridges under the Left-wing Extremism- affected Districts Scheme.The 40 districts in the country the Centre identified as Maoist-affected include Khammam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, VisakHapatnam, East Godavari, Warangal and Karimnagar in Andhra pradesh. The Union government decided to create infrastructure and employment, and take up developmental works to dissuade people, especially the young, from joining the extremists.It has taken up many developmental works in Khammam district.The Union ministry of road transport has asked the state government to send proposals for taking up new works in remote areas in Maoist-affected districts.Acting on the instructions by the state government the roads and buildings department has prepared proposals for building 138 roads and 26 bridges in the eight districts and sent it to the Centre.One of the proposed 26 bridges will come up on Godavari river at Bhadrachalam. The three-lane bridge will be 1.82-km-long and three line width bridge and it was will cost Rs 80 crore. Already, a two-lane bridge on the Godavari, which was built in 1964, exists at Bhadrachalam but it is unable to take the load due to the everincreasing traffic on it.During the Srirama Navami and Mukkoti Ekadasi festivals lakhs of devotees from various parts of the state enter the temple town through this bridge.Moreover, the bridge is the only way linking other states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and thousands of inter-state vehicles ply on the bridge everyday.According to roads and buildings chief engineer (PPP projects) G Jagannadha Rao, the Union ministry of road transport is likely to approve the state government’s proposals on new roads and bridges shortly.