Retired engineer finds faults with NHAI for altering NH-63 alignment in Mancherial

The new alignment would not only cause huge expenditure to the government, but also destroy fertile agriculture fields.

Mancherial: Narapu Reddy, a retired civil engineer from the irrigation department found fault with the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for altering alignment of the proposed National Highway 63 between Mancherial and Nizamabad. He along with the BJP senior leader Tula Madhusudan Rao and farmers addressed newsmen here on Friday.

Reddy opined that the existing Mancherial-Luxettipet road should have been widened instead of creating a Greenfield highway that passes through agriculture fields in Hajipur and Mancherial districts, affecting farmers who had already given lands for Sripada Yellampalli Project built across Godavari river at Gudipet. Had the existing stretch been widened, the government could have saved hundreds of crores, he remarked.

---

The retired engineer wondered as to why the brown-field highway was converted into a Greenfield highway which costs Rs 4,800 crore. The new alignment would not only cause huge expenditure to the government, but also destroy fertile agriculture fields. If the existing stretch is widened, the government could save Rs 3,500 crore when compared to Rs 1,200 crore needed for laying the brown-field network.

Madhusudan alleged that the alignment was altered to benefit some persons and for the vested interests of certain public representatives and realtors. He demanded the union government to probe into the change of the alignment with the help of the CBI and vigilance department. He accused the officials of flouting norms while taking up the project. He regretted that the life of the farmers would be thrown out of the gear if their lands were acquired.