Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

A letter does the needful

Staff Reporter

NEAT JOB: The tollgate ahead of the Puttur-Tadukupeta bypass road

TIRUPATI: Does it really need a Chief Minister to intervene in mundane civic issues like potholes on roads, non-glowing streetlights and overflowing drains?

The Roads and Buildings officials of Chittoor district, who have reportedly received a severe rebuke from the Chief Minister's peishi, have an answer.

The issue in question is the Puttur-Tadukupeta toll-paid bypass road, which is part of the Tirupati-Chennai highway. Though paying a toll entitles commuters to a comfortable journey, one is not supposed to expect such a luxury on this road.

The 24-km-long road was laid six years back under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, that included a new stretch of 7 km to circumvent Puttur and Nagari towns. Along with this, the contractor bagged the order for the Chittoor bypass also, which is part of the Tirupati-Bangalore highway. Thanks to the contractor's neglect and official apathy, both the roads remained poorly maintained and full of potholes.

It was a Chennai-based traveller K.K. Menon, who brought the issue to the notice of officials. Mr. Menon shot a letter directly to none other than Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. What more, he had also marked a copy to the AICC president Sonia Gandhi asking her to "direct" Dr. Reddy in the right direction.

In the letter, a copy of which is available with The Hindu , Mr. Menon mentioned how badly the road was maintained on the Andhra Pradesh side and expressed pain at the callous response by the fee collectors in an inebriated condition. According to Mr. Menon, the staff manning the counter had also asked him not to expect the road to be spic and span as during the Chandrababu Naidu regime, a comment which would have surely irked the peishi managers, who immediately pulled up the R&B officials for their alleged indifference. Not to mention that the potholes were plugged and the road was given a black tar topping immediately.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

A letter does the needful
`Review of security should be a continuous process'
Minister performs `Rahu Ketu' puja
In Tirupati Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu