CM Revanth Reddy urges Centre to declare southern part of RRR as national highway

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy also appealed for expediting ongoing works pertaining to various national highways in the State.

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday urged union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to declare the southern part of the Regional Ring Road (RRR) as a national highway and to expand the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway to six lanes. He also appealed for expediting ongoing works pertaining to various national highways in the State.

The Chief Minister along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, D Sridhar Babu and others called on Gadkari in Delhi and submitted representations for various infrastructure projects including new national highways in Telangana.

According to an official statement, Revanth Reddy emphasised the need for immediate commencement of national highway projects especially the Narsapur-Toopran-Gajwel-Bhongir-Choutuppal (158.645 km) road, which has been already declared as a national highway. The State government, which was bearing half of the land acquisition expenditure, has expedited the works, he said, also seeking announcement of the Choutuppal-Amangal-Shadnagar-Sangareddy (181.87 km) road and the southern part of the RRR as national highways, besides releasing funds under annual plan of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Hyderabad to Bhadrachalam Road

The Chief Minister also brought attention to the Hyderabad (ORR Gourelli Junction) to Valigonda-Thorrur-Nellikuduru-Mahabubabad-Illendu-Kothagudem national highway (NH-930P), stressing the need to expedite the remaining work. Of the total stretch, works pertaining to only 69 km in first package had commenced. Completion of this road would significantly reduce travel distance from Hyderabad to Bhadrachalam by 40 km. He urged the Centre to invite tenders for commencing works pertaining to the remaining three other packages (165 km) of this national highway.

Widening of Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway

Expressing concerns over heavy traffic on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada (NH 65) national highway, Revanth Reddy emphasised the need to widen it to six lanes. He noted that more than 60,000 vehicles travel on this crucial route daily. He urged resolution of disputes between NHAI and the contract company to facilitate the expansion.

The Chief Minister also discussed ongoing works pertaining to the Kalwakurty to Kolhapur-Somasila-Karivena-Nandyal (NH-167K) national highway route for 142 km stretch and requested for commencement of works on the remaining 32 km works including an iconic bridge project. He stated that completing this road would reduce the distance from Hyderabad to Tirupati by 70 km. He also sought approvals to widen the Hyderabad-Kalwakurty road (NH 765K) from two lanes to four lanes. He requested a four-lane elevated corridor of 62 km between Hyderabad-Srisailam (NH 765) in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve Forest which got delayed due to pending forests and environment clearances.

Manthani National Highway

Revanth Reddy proposed for declaring the Jagitial-Peddapally-Manthani-Kataram State highway as a national highway, emphasizing its importance for the region. He explained that this road would enhance connectivity for Telangana, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh, and boost the accessibility of the Kaleswaram region, known as the Dakshina Kasi. The Chief Minister also brought up the Hyderabad-Manneguda four-lane national highway (NH-163), urging immediate commencement of work following land acquisition.

In all, the need to upgrade 1,617 km of national highways in Telangana to enhance connectivity was discussed.