NH16 washed away & 3 AP districts in deep waters

NELLORE: Road transport on the national highway (NH16) between Kolkata-Chennai was severely hit on Tuesday when the six-lane highway was washed away in the flashfloods at several places in the district. The highway was breached at Varagali village of Chillakur mandal near Manubolu resulting in blockade of vehicular traffic between Nellore-Mumbai.The highway was cut off at a depth of nearly four ft with 20 metres width.Under the impact of the rampaging flood waters , the railings, divider and the side walls were washed away , while the nearby farm fields were brimming with waters.The massive damage to the national highway has stunned the local officials and transport operators. National highways are always considered to be flood-resistant as they are laid with international standards.The road surface department spends nearly Rs 10 crore for laying of each km of road on national highways. "The NH stretch getting washed away in the floods is an indication of quality of standards being maintained in the construction of the roads,"



said a ruling party legislator from Nellore. The NH in the district was laid by a firm owned by a former union minister belonging to the Congres.District collector M Janaki indicated that the breach repair works would be taken up by Wednesday morning when the flood level is expected to come down. The damage to the NH has thrown the road traffic to Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad out of gear. Vehicles which entered the state from Tamilnadu were stuck near Mutyalampadu village close to the breach spot. These vehicles were left without any option to go back and travel through alternative routes and waiting along the highway . The vehicles that are coming from Kolkata and Hyderabad routes were being diverted through Venkatagiri bypass. However, the officials are suggesting the vehicle operators to go slow with Venkatagiri mandal receiving heavy to heavy rainfall.The officials are struggling to divert vehicles on national highway as they were stranded for about 3-4 km and heavy rain disrupted the traffic management.