Road repairs, infrastructure priority: Minister

Giddalur: Roads and Buildings Minister B C Janardhan Reddy, along with the Giddalur MLA Muthumula Ashok Reddy inspected the road repair and maintenance works at Kothapalli village of Bestavaripet mandal in the Prakasam district on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Janardhana said that the government has committed substantial funds amounting to Rs 861 crore to repair approximately 25,000 kilometres of roads in three phases.

He said that in Prakasam district alone, 1,313 kilometres of roads are being repaired with an investment of Rs 21 crore. He said that despite some delays caused by recent rainfall, they aim to complete road repairs by the end of January.

Criticising the previous government’s neglect, Janardhana pointed out that the lack of infrastructure development over the past five years has created an additional burden of 15,000 crore rupees on the state.

He highlighted that industrial development and tourism were severely impacted due to poor road conditions. He informed that the current government is exploring innovative approaches, including plans to develop 1,300 kilometres of roads through public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

With support from the Central government, he said that they are expecting to bring in 75,000 crore rupees for national highway projects.

He emphasised the government’s goal of reviving the state’s economic potential within a year, working under the leadership of Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.