AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that an amount of Rs 2,205 Crore was allocated for road construction and repairs which was never given before earlier. The Chief Minister on Monday held a review meeting on the development of new roads and repairs of the old roads at his Camp Office in Tadepalli. This amount being allocated in a year was never given or spent in the State's history, he informed.

Officials informed that 83 percent of the tenders for road works have been completed so far, adding that 100 percent of the tenders will be completed by the end of the month. The CM said that the maintenance of roads was neglected by the previous government. The roads were further damaged due to the heavy rains that lashed the State later. The Chief Minister also expressed his ire that distorted news was being circulated that all roads were damaged during the present government.

Officials said that most of the construction and repair of roads will be completed by the end of May this year. They said that 33 Road Over Bridges (ROBs) have been pending for a long time. We are spending about Rs 571.3 crore to complete these, the Chief Minister said.

Officials briefed the Chief Minister on the steps being taken for the construction of a beach corridor road from Visakhapatnam port to Bhimili-Bhogapuram connecting it to NH-16.

YS Jagan said that special attention should be paid to road construction methods (design‌) and the beach corridor should be one of the best in the world. He said that the time taken to reach Bhogapuram Airport from Visakhapatnam city and from the airport to the city should be faster with the construction of this road. Several tourism projects will come across the roadside and it will gain importance, he said.

There is also a need to give more importance to the beach corridor road as there are constant restrictions on the flow of civilian flights at the present airport. This apart the landings during night time is also difficult due to restrictions by the Navy.

The review meeting was attended by Roads and Buildings Minister M Sankara Narayana, Chief Secretary(CS) Dr Sameer Sharma, Revenue Special CS Rajat Bhargava, Transport CS MT Krishna Babu, Transport Commissioner P Sitharamanjaneyulu, and other senior officials.

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