Agency seeks traffic diversion as work on Kanaka Durga flyover resumes

Vijayawada: After being stalled for more than 15 days, work for the Kanaka Durga flyover has again started. Dasara celebrations at the Kanaka Durga temple had led to stalling of the work and officers of the National Highways wing of the roads and buildings wing had to remove all heavy machinery from the vicinity.

District collector Mohammed Imtiaz has directed officials of the R&B department and Soma Constructions, the agency in charge for the flyover work, to complete pending span works near the entry point of Kanaka Durga temple at the earliest. Following the collector’s directions, officers are now planning to run the construction activities in two shifts to complete the pending work.

Interestingly, Soma Constructions had initially denied to stop flyover works given the tight deadline but had to ultimately relocate the machines on September 25, with the directions of endowments minister V Srinivasa Rao.

The agency has requested the administration to divert the vehicular traffic between Prakasam Barrage to Kummari Palem Centre so that the construction work can be given some speed. The agency had already completed the approach road works in Bhavanipuram side and started the works near Rajiv Gandhi Municipal Park before wor was stalled. In its request, Soma Constructions cited Dasara celebrations as the reason of work being affected for 20 days.

Imtiaz, however, said that the agency has been given ample time to complete the construction. He added that chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy had directed the agency to complete the flyover work by December 2019.

Meanwhile, locals are upset over the whole situation, fearing more traffic diversions and snarls. “We have to take a 5-km-long route from Bhavanipuram to reach Kaleswara Rao Market which would be just 2km away had there been a flyover,” said KM Muralidhar, a private employee.