Union Minister calls for according priority to village roads

Kakinada, Sep 20 (UNI) Minister of State for Defence M M Pallamraju today asked the East Godavari district administration to accord utmost priority for the development of village roads.

Addressing the district Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting at the Collectorate here, he said due weightage should be given to the complaints of the elected people's representatives.

He asked the Panchayatraj engineers to complete the sanctioned road works within three months.

He was unhappy over the inaction of the engineers on the complaints made by Peddapuram MLA Thota Gopalakrishna on the poor standards of the road in Samalkot.

The MLA had complained that despite his written complaints and enquiry ordered by the Collector, action was not taken against the erring contractor. He also complained that payment was made to the contractor, defying the orders of the Collector.

District Collector Gopalakrishna Dwivedi assured the Minister that the amount would be recovered from both the erring executive engineer and the contractor, besides initiating disciplinary action.

Abbireddy Bullebbaireddy, MLA, who represents Sampara constituency, alleged that rural water supply engineers were turning a deaf ear to his appeals on supplying drinking water to coastal villages faced with salinity problem.

Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Minister Pilli Subhas Chandra Bose, present in the meeting, asked the Collector to explore the possibilities of diverting the water from the sick industrial units to the coastal villages.

UNI XC MDG RL GC2008