Andhra Pradesh government sanctions Rs 475 crore for expansion, repair of roads

Andhra Pradesh government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 475 crore for expansion and repair of 99 main roads across 13 districts in the state, Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao said in Hyderabad on Monday.

He said government will take up mapping of roads using global positioning system to study the traffic flow pattern and future requirements. "Based on that plans would be drawn for developing single, double and four-lane roads in the state," Rao said.

He was addressing reporters after attending a high-level review meeting on the proposed Road Grid, which was chaired by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

"Better roads would contribute to higher gross state domestic product," the minister quoted Naidu as saying.

Rao said Naidu has asked officials to chalk out a plan for ensuring road connectivity to all villages, with priority for multiple-route connectivity and village-to-village connectivity.

"The CM also asked officials to prepare a report on the source of finance for Rough Road Maintenance (RRM) and also stressed on the need for better coordination between police, Roads and Buildings and Panchayat Raj departments.

"He (CM) wanted them to study accident-prone areas across the state and suggest measures to bring down the accident rate," the minister added. The chief minister also directed respective district collectors to sort out issues related to land acquisition for expansion of national highways running through AP, Rao said.