Viajayawada: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has mooted an idea to construct more tunnels in the city to ease out traffic problems in the city, particularly in one town area.
As per the instructions of the Chief Minister, the VMC officials are now in the process of engaging international consultants to conduct a feasibility study on where to construct the tunnels.
Interestingly, no one has participated in the tenders that the VMC has already called for to conduct the study. The officials are now negotiating with the international consultants to pin point on the locations. As the city is surrounded by hills on northern and western side, connectivity within the city has become a problem.
The Indrakeeladri hill that intersects the city has only one tunnel route in the middle at Chittinagar. The Hyderabad highway on the southern side and the Inner Ring Road on the northern side of the hill are the other two roads that connect Bhavanipuram, Ramarajyanagar, Hous-ing Board Colony and Mahendranagar areas with the rest of the city. The tunnel road is witnessing heavy traffic as it is the only way out from inside the city.
The VMC wanted to construct the tunnel between Nalugu Sthambala Centre and Nehru Bomma Centre to connect BRP Road with Kummalipalem Centre.
VMC commissioner G. Veerapandian said, “We are planning to open up the city to ensure smooth flow of traffic. We are talking to some international consultants to identify suitable locations. Another tunnel is to connect Eluru Road with A S Ramarao Road.
Mr Veerapandian further said that apart from the hills, canals that flow through the city also pose connectivity problem.
“This year, we will construct more bridges on the canals for better inter-connectivity of various routes within the city,” he added.
