Foundation stone laid for ₹147.36-crore Gaddipadu ROB in Guntur
Union Ministers laid the foundation stone for the ₹147.36-crore Gaddipadu Railway Overbridge in Guntur, with eight ROBs sanctioned for the district at an estimated central allocation of about ₹750 crore.
The foundation stone for the Gaddipadu Railway Overbridge (ROB) was laid at the Inner Ring Road Junction in Guntur on Saturday, with Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar and Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Railways V. Somanna attending the ceremony.
The overbridge, which corresponds to Level Crossing No. 3, is being built at an estimated cost of ₹147.36 crore with support from the Centre and the Railway Ministry.
Addressing a public meeting after the event, Dr. Chandra Sekhar said eight ROBs had been sanctioned for Guntur district, with an estimated central allocation of about ₹750 crore. He noted that the Gaddipadu level crossing was used by around 20,000 vehicles daily and crossed by 78 trains, leading to frequent traffic disruptions whenever the railway gate was closed.
The Minister said the Nandivelugu ROB would be opened around Deepavali and the Shankar Vilas bridge would be inaugurated next year. The Nehru Nagar ROB, sanctioned in 2018, had earlier failed to make progress and was revived after the coalition government assumed office, he said.
Mr. Somanna said the Centre had released ₹68,000 crore for 38 railway projects in Andhra Pradesh. Efforts were under way to achieve full railway electrification and to develop 78 railway stations in the State, he said, adding that work on the Tenali Amrit Bharat railway station had reached 78% completion.
He attributed the sanction of the eight ROBs for Guntur to the efforts of Dr. Chandra Sekhar.
MLAs Galla Madhavi, Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar, B. Ramanjaneyulu and Tenali Sravan Kumar, Rajya Sabha member Bhashyam Ramakrishna, South Central Railway General Manager Sandeep Mathur and DRM Sudheshna Sen, among others, attended the programme.