Andhra Pradesh government moves to make state 'pothole-free'

After the opposition parties' protests deploring the worsening conditions of the roads all over, the Jaganmohan Reddy government has now moved to make “Andhra Pradesh a pothole free state.”

The Monsoon rains had further deteriorated the road infrastructure especially in some interiors where travelling had become a backbreaking adventure.

Actor turned politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party had even carried out a social media campaign focused on the awful state of the roads. While staging demonstrations at such spots, JSP activists have been posting pictures of ram-shackle roads from across the state on Twitter with the hashtag #JSPForAP_Roads.

TDP activists too ridiculed the shape of the roads with many memes on Facebook.

Reddy who had come to power over two years back, in May 2019, had earlier blamed “the improper maintenance” during his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu's regime for the condition of the road.

On Monday, the Chief Minister held a review on road repairs and directed the officials to take up works in cities and municipalities on a priority basis, making “Andhra Pradesh a pothole free state.”

With the monsoon retreating, Jagan has asked officials to commence road works immediately, filling the pothole and repairing the about 46,000-kilometre road network in the state. “By June 2022, the next monsoon season, there should be no puckered roads," he said.

Officials said that repairs on the 8,268 km stretch of roads would begin by the month-end after finalising tenders. The CM instructed that pictures should be taken of the before and after the condition of the roads, similar to the Nadu-Nedu programme initiated to improve the government schools' infrastructure.

As the Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari is scheduled to visit Andhra next month, the Chief Minister asked the officials to list the pending projects in the state to be discussed with him.

Reddy also wants to blacklist the contractors who had bagged road projects but have not initiated works.

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