Foundation laid for ₹147.36-crore railway overbridge in Guntur

The foundation stone has been laid for a ₹147.36-crore railway overbridge at Gaddipadu in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, in a project intended to reduce disruption at a busy level crossing. Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar and Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Railways V. Somanna performed the foundation-laying ceremony at the Inner Ring Road Junction on Saturday.

The overbridge corresponds to Level Crossing No. 3 and is being constructed with support from the Centre and the Railway Ministry. Speaking at a public meeting after the ceremony, Chandra Sekhar said the crossing was used by about 20,000 vehicles and crossed by 78 trains each day.

Road traffic was frequently interrupted when the railway gate closed, he said. Chandra Sekhar said eight railway overbridges had been sanctioned for Guntur district, with an estimated central allocation of about ₹750 crore. He also said the Nandivelugu overbridge was expected to open around Deepavali and that the Shankar Vilas bridge would be inaugurated next year.

The minister said the Nehru Nagar overbridge, which had been sanctioned in 2018 but had not progressed, was revived after the coalition government assumed office. No further details on the construction schedule for the Gaddipadu project were provided in the report. Somanna said the Centre had released ₹68,000 crore for 38 railway projects in Andhra Pradesh.

He said work was under way to achieve complete railway electrification in the State and to develop 78 railway stations. The minister added that work on the Tenali Amrit Bharat railway station had reached 78% completion. Legislators Galla Madhavi, Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar, B.

Ramanjaneyulu and Tenali Sravan Kumar, Rajya Sabha member Bhashyam Ramakrishna, South Central Railway general manager Sandeep Mathur and divisional railway manager Sudheshna Sen attended the programme.