Eluru : With the aim of pothole-free roads in the state, works have been taken up in 21,220 km of roads with a budget of Rs 1,080 crore and 12,724 km of roads have already been repaired, informed Roads, Buildings, Investments and Infrastructure Minister BC Janardhana Reddy. Speaking to media at the revenue guest house here, the minister explained the progress of road development works in the state and the district.

District collector K Vetri Selvi, Eluru MLA Badeti Radhakrishnaiah (Chanti), and Denduluru MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar Rao participated in the meeting.

Janardhana Reddy said that despite the financial difficulties in the state, road repair works have been undertaken with the aim of providing better roads to the people. He said that 65 per cent of the work has already been completed.

During 2014-19, the then TDP government spent Rs 11,468 crore on roads. However, the previous government allocated Rs 16,852 crore and spent only Rs 7,334 crore. Out of that, Rs 2,300 crore dues were not paid.

Within 180 days of the formation of the coalition government, Rs 1, 066 crore of dues were paid. Currently, in the state, 3,463 km of national highway works worth Rs 77,967 crore are in various stages.

In the place of roads that cannot be repaired, as per the suggestion of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, new roads will be constructed with NABARD funds at a cost of Rs 1,149 crore. He said that thorn bushes on the roads have been removed and jungle clearance work has been undertaken for 23,521 km at a cost of Rs 33 crore.

DRO V Visveswara Rao, R&B SE G John Moshe, Eluru RDO Achyuta Ambareesh, Tahsildar GV Seshagiri and others were present.