Vijayawada-Hyd NH stretch needs to be upgraded

Vijayawada: Design flaws have made the journey on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway, one of the busiest NHs in the country, a dreaded experience. The highway is notorious for its sharp curves and slopes, making the stretch prone to accidents.
In recent years, frequent flooding of NH-65 has further exposed the National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) ‘unscientific approach’ in the construction of the highway.For the past three days, traffic on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad has almost come to a standstill, with thousands of vehicles stuck flooding submerged the highway at several points. Besides connecting Hyderabad to Vijayawada and other areas of the state, NH-65 also serves as the main connection of the two cities with Kolkata and Chennai. Though the district administrations of Nalgonda and Krishna (NTR) are said to have submitted detailed maps of the streams, rivulets, and flood flows in their respective districts to the NHAI before the construction of the highway, the designs were reportedly prepared to suit the highway authority’s budget requirements, ignoring other concerns.
During the 2009 floods, a portion of the highway near Kesara bridge in Nandigama constituency was washed away. Subsequently, NHAI authorities strengthened the highway and reconstructed the stretch. However, they did not think of constructing bridges where streams cross the highway.
Former minister Vasantha Nageswara Rao said that three streams — Munneru, Katteleru, and Vaira Yeru, all originating in Khammam district — join Krishna river after crossing the highway near Kesara bridge. Though NHAI constructed a bridge near Kesara, he felt there is need for construction of another bridge near Aithavaram. “Locals have been requesting NHAI authorities to construct a bridge on that stretch for the past one decade, but it has not been taken up due to a litigation between the NH contractor and the Centre,” he said.
There are several such vulnerable points on NH-65 that authorities need to relook to allow free flow of traffic. It has almost become routine for traffic to come to a halt near Kodad, Jaggaiahpet, and Nandigama on the NH stretch whenever there are heavy rains in the two states. Many streams and rivulets face flash floods during the monsoon, resulting in disruption of vehicular traffic on the NH.
The Centre recently decided to widen the existing four-lane NH between Vijayawada and Hyderabad to six lanes. It has also been decided to change certain alignments on the NH, considering the accidents on the stretch.
Former minister and TDP leader Nandamuri Harikrishna and former MP Laljaan Basha were among several people killed in road accidents near Narketpalli on NH-65 over the past decade. “As authorities have decided to amend the designs to make the highway accident-free, they should also take the flooding from streams into consideration while finalising the NH’s designs,” demanded TDP leader Jagadeesh. R&B minister BC Janardhan Reddy said he will discuss the issue with NHAI authorities.