Bridge on border between Gudem and Aheri to open soon

ADILABAD: Telangana will get better-connected with neighbouring Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh with the inauguration soon of the inter-state bridge on River Pranahita on the borders between Gudem of Telangana and Aheri of Maharashtra.

The bridge came up in the Maoist-affected area of Penchikalpet mandal of Komaram Bheem Asifabad district of Telangana. State minister KT Rama Rao would inaugurate the bridge, officials said while vehicles have started plying informally via the bridge for the past few months.

The road distance from Telangana to Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra will majorly reduce with the opening of the bridge. It was constructed with an outlay of Rs60 crore to improve road connectivity between the three states and check the Maoist activities in the region via quicker access for the security forces.

Officials said the bridge will enable the police of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh to coordinate with Telangana police and increase surveillance on the Maoist movements on the borders. They also said the inter-state bridge is likely of help to gangs illegally transporting liquor and rice from Telangana to Maharashtra and police alert in this respect too is a must.

The police of the three states are already coordinating their operations in the fight against the Maoists. The special commando force is known as C- 60. The special anti-Maoists police force of Maharashtra and the central forces of Chhattisgarh jointly carry out anti-Maoist operations on the state borders.

The police and special forces can move fast along the border to the scene of offense, from their base, and take control of emerging situations.

Officials said road connectivity will improve upto Kagaznagar town from Gudem via Chithalamanepalli, Babasagar, Dabba and Kadamba. There existed a motorway but state officials may not get permission for road-widening since Kadamba is set in dense forest and tiger movement has been noticed in the area.   

A distance of about 20km will be reduced for travel on this road to reach Kagaznagar, compared to travel via Kautala or Penchikapet from Gudem. Vehicles are already plying on the Gudem inter-state bridge for the last seven months after completion of the bridge construction.

Aheri town in Maharashtra is just 2km from Gudem bridge and the same is the distance to Gudem village from the bridge.