The road-widening works of National Highway 161 (Nanded-Akola) are moving fast and construction of road underbridges and flyovers is already on.
The road is being widened from the existing two-lane to four-lane from Mamidipally in Kandi mandal to Pampalgam in Maharashtra located on the borders of Telangana. The total estimated cost of the road work is ₹3,160 crore in three packages.
The project was taken up under Bharatmala Pariyojana programme in Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM). The contract agreement was signed on January 3, 2020 and was scheduled to get completed by October 4, 2022. Operations and maintenance will be for 15 years from the date of completion.
The first package is 39.98-kilometre stretch from Mamidipally in Kandi mandal to Ramsanipally in Andol mandal with an estimated outlay of ₹ 1,000 crore followed by 47 kilometres stretch from Gadipeddapur in Alladurg mandal.
The works between Mamidipally and Ramsanipally were taken up in the first phase and work on laying of service roads is on. Bridges are coming up at Andol, Shivampet and Choutkur.
The second phase of 48 kilometres from Ramsanipally to Mangloor section was awarded for ₹ 1,234 crore and the agreement was signed on May 9, 2018 and appointed date was May 2, 2019. The project was likely to complete by July 30, 2021. Operations and maintenance will be by 15 years. By January 1, 2021, over 69 % of the project was completed.
The third phase is from Mangloor to Maharashtra borders with a length of 48.963 kilometres. The project was awarded for ₹ 963 crore and appointed date was April 12, 2019. It will be completed by April 4, 2021. As of January 31, 2021, the project was completed up to 77 %, according to official sources.
“The project works are moving fast and we will have a wider national highway. At the same time, the tree tunnel on this way has disappeared forever,” said Ramachandraiah, a resident of Pulkal, adding that widening of road will ease traffic.
