Representative image.

VIJAYAWADA: The Kanakadurga flyover on the crucial national highway No 65 in the city will be completed by March-end next year. The Krishna river bund road between Vijayawada and Avanigadda will be developed to boost tourism in the picturesque Diviseema region where the Krishna confluences with the Bay of Bengal.

Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who reviewed the condition of roads in the state with senior officials here on Thursday, directed officials to speed up the work on Kanakadurga flyover. Officials told him that the flyover, which missed several deadlines earlier, would be ready by the end of this financial year.

Chandrababu Naidu also directed officials of the roads and buildings department to take possession of the Vijayawada-Avanigadda road and develop it to improve connectivity and boost tourism.

He advised officials to transform all state and national highways as pothole-free by end of this month. He warned of serious action, if potholes were noticed on roads.

Anantapur district has stood first in terms of potholes-free roads with 99.86 per cent of road length without any potholes. Srikakulam stood last with 86.62 per cent.

He said roads should be developed on priority basis considering population and vehicular traffic. He directed officials to arrange CCTV cameras to assess traffic density.

Stating that Diviseema is a beautiful place with backwaters, mangroves and Krishna river confluence point at Hamsaladivi, Naidu said officials should explore opportunities to develop the area as an international tourist destination. He said AP should be developed as a role model in development of roads.

Special chief secretary Neerab Kumar Prasad gave a presentation on the progress of development of R&B roads. He said an action plan was prepared for Rs 855 cr proposing to take up roads with traffic density. Regarding state highways, a goal was set to widen 3,729 km of single lane state highways, 789 km of intermediate and State highways and to reconstruct dilapidated bridges to ensure safe flow of traffic.

The total length of roads in the state is national highways 6401 km, state highways 13,604 km, district roads 32.280 km, main district roads 26,849 km and 5,431 km rural roads covering a total of 52,285 km.

