VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation for the works related to widening and strengthening of the Krishna River flood bank road near Prakasam Barrage on Wednesday morning . The works include widening of 15.25 km stretch from Kondaveeti Vagu lift irrigation scheme near the barrage to Rayapudi to make a double lane road, a two-lane bridge with footpaths which will be built with an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore.

The strengthening of the bund road will protect the existing flood bank from erosion and also prevent the inundation of surrounding villages during floods.

The widening of the flood bank road will help in improving the connectivity to Amaravati, which houses the Secretariat, High Court and other government offices and educational institutions. The strengthening works are being taken up as about eight lakh cusecs of floodwater was discharged through Prakasam Barrage in the past two years which had weakened the existing flood bank.

This apart the double lane road will connect the N1 Road to N13 Road with Amaravati Seed Access Road from Undavalli to Rayapudi and six-laning of Vijayawada bypass from Gollapudi to Chinnakakani, including a major bridge across River Krishna.

Footpaths to be laid on either side of the bund road will help pedestrians walk safely during peak traffic times

The water resources department will take up the project with Amaravati Smart and Sustainable City Corporation Ltd’s funds. Besides widening of the road, renovation of Kondaveeti Vagu bridge, construction of Venkatayapalem-Rayapudi outfall sluice, and flood monitoring centres will also be built.

Ministers Anil Kumar Yadav, Botsa Satyanarayana, Mekathoti Sucharita, Ranganadha Raju, Narayana Swamy, MP Mopidevi Venkataramana, Guntur district MLAs, Collector Vivek Yadav, and others were present on the occasion.

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