Congress MLAs flag damaged roads in Assembly, seek immediate repairs

Several Congress MLAs raised concerns over severely damaged roads in their constituencies during Zero Hour in the Assembly, citing delays in sanctioned works and contractor payments. The R&B Minister said action plans were prepared to commence works within 10 to 15 days.

Hyderabad: Putting the Congress government in a spot, a few ruling party MLAs in the Assembly said roads in their constituencies were severely damaged and urged the government to take up repairs at the earliest.

During Zero Hour, Congress MLA from Manakondur K Satyanarayana said neither R&B roads nor Panchayat Raj roads nor Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) road works had commenced so far.

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“I promised the people that if I fail to get the Gundlapochampally-Pothuru road works repaired, I will stage a hunger strike. And I will stage the protest,” Satyanarayana said.

He said works were being sanctioned on paper, but contractors were not taking them up, mainly due to the delay in clearing old dues payable to them. The poor condition of roads was affecting the government’s reputation, he said, appealing to the Finance Minister to at least clear part of the old dues payable to contractors and ensure that works commenced.

Similarly, Ibrahimpatnam MLA Malreddy Rangareddy said a central road in his constituency had been dug up over a year ago. It connects nearly 10 villages, including Polkampally, Nayanampally, Dandumylaram and Rapole. Though the road repair work had been sanctioned, the works were not being executed, he said.

He also raised concerns over the Nagarjunasagar-Nandi Wanaparthy, Medipally, Nanaknagar, Meerkhanpet and Future City roads. All these roads had been sanctioned, but works were not being taken up. Action should be initiated against the contractors, he demanded.

BRS turncoat MLA from Chevella Kale Yadaiah said the Shankarpally-Marpally road via Mominpet was in a bad shape. Likewise, the Himayathnagar-Vikarabad, Thangedpally and Aluru roads were also severely damaged, he said. Officials had informed him that tenders were floated, but works had not commenced so far, he added.

BRS turncoat MLA Kadiyam Srihari said the State government had introduced the HAM system to improve the road network. Tenders had been floated covering R&B and Panchayat Raj roads, and Letters of Acceptance (LoAs) had also been issued.

However, the working season would commence in October, but agreements had not been signed. As a result, contractors had not commenced the works, he stated.

In reply, R&B Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said LoAs had already been issued. However, considering the rains this season, the works were not taken up. Action plans had been chalked out to commence the works in the next 10 to 15 days, he said.