Pothole-free roads by Sankranti says CM Chandrababu Naidu

Anakapalli : Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday launched a Rs 861-crore mission to achieve pothole-free roads by Sankranti. Kickstarting the state-wide mission from Vennelapalem village in Anakapalli district, the Chief Minister personally repaired a pothole by filling it with mortar.

Later, a large pothole was also fixed in his presence by dumping material onto it by a truck. Naidu himself picked up a spade and levelled the pothole to give a fillip to the repair works in the state.

Addressing a public meeting at Vennelapalem, Naidu said the roads laid under the YSRCP regime between 2019 and 2024 were 'highways to hell'. He said Jagan who splurged Rs 450 crore on destroying Rushikonda and constructing a huge palace talks of class war. He wants to show he is representative of the masses while all others represent class categories.

People need to realise who represents class and the masses.

Naidu said roads are a symbol of civilization, which attract industries, enable development, bring jobs and facilitate quick travel. He noted that good road infrastructure also reduces transport costs and saves time, among several other benefits. But Jagan ignored all that and looted the state.

Further, Naidu assured that there would be no village without a cement road in the next five years. He noted that the state government would draft a plan to further comprehensively develop the road infrastructure in the state apart from repairing the potholes. After reviewing Rs 76,000-crore worth of national highway works being carried out in the state, Naidu directed officials to complete them in two and a half years. The CM said that another Rs 50,000 crore would be spent on Vijayawada eastern bypass road, Kuppam - Hosur - Bengaluru road, coastal road from Mulapeta to Bhogapuram and Amaravati outer ring road (ORR), all of which would be eight-lane roads. Taking together both the national highways projects and these state road projects, the CM said Rs 1.25 lakh crore would be spent on roads alone in the state over the next five years.

The CM has also warned that stringent action would be taken against those who commit atrocities against women. "There are some rogues in society. Horrible people. Are they humans or animals for raping a 4-year-old? If the law allows a couple of them to be hanged in the middle of the road. Only then will they fear," he said. Naidu's comments come in the wake of a minor girl's rape and murder in Tirupati district by her uncle. Vowing not to spare such people, the CM said he would take measures to ensure that they tremble and the day of committing an atrocity against a woman would be their last day.