Nellol: The delays from the Highway Authority led to protests from residents and public representatives here when much-needed vehicle underground access was established at the Chintared Dypalem junction near Medicover Hospital in NH-16.
The intersection is the main entrance and exit of the NH-16 Nellore City and remains a major traffic bottleneck. Nine people have been killed in the past five years, and another 70 have been severely injured in this accident-prone place, with 35 of them severely injured.
The NH-16 extension throughout the company will limit heavy traffic. Residents of nearby villages have been facing difficulties due to the lack of safe crossings.
The demand for underground passages has intensified, and the public has repeatedly urged the authorities to address this critical need.
Similar underground passages exist in the Narayana Institute of Engineering area for vehicles to reach the Krishnapatnam Port.
In fact, the Chintared Dypalem underground passage was part of a large package three years ago, including the underground passage in Golagamudi Junction, a service road in Sundaraiah Colony, and the overpass in Nellore T Junction near Ayyyappa Temple. The tender for the entire project floated on January 7, 2022, with an estimated cost of 11.641 million.
Strangely, NHAI withdrew its tender on August 6, 2022 and modified its estimated cost to Rs 85.44 crore to prescribe the Chintared DypaLem underground passage.
Despite efforts from Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sreedhar Reddy and Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, the proposal was ignored.
Vemireddy was uncomfortable and brought the matter to a notice from Road Minister Nitin Gadkari. He submitted a representative to request an immediate revival of the project, noting that design and estimates had been prepared.
“Our continued efforts have paid off. NHAI has begun preparing a detailed project report for the underground passage of ChintaredDypalem. The project will soon be BEA reality.”
