Roads and Buildings department Secretary Sunil Sharma today directed all district Collectors and Superintendents of Police in Telangana State to protect all roads from farmers using cage wheels during harvest season.
Addressing the media at the Secretariat here on Tuesday, Sunil Sharma said Roads & Buildings Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao has directed the officials during a high-level review meeting to initiate stringent measures against those damaging the roads and incurring monetary loss to the Government. He also said the government was spending a whopping Rs 10,000 crore for better connectivity between mandals and district headquarters across the State. However the roads in villages and towns were being cut and damaged in an irreparable manner by farmers using cage wheels and tractors.
He said the minister asked them to initiate severe action like sending them to jail if the farmers continue to damage the roads. “We warned the farmers and others using cage wheels and tractors on roads and unnecessary road cuttings. The government is focusing on providing better connectivity to people of villages and towns who should protect the roads”, he said. He also explained that all the roads across the State will soon get a facelift through widening, improvement, double laning of some major district and State highways, construction of new bridges across the Godavari and Krishna rivers, widening of old bridges and reconstruction of old ones, he added.
52 women apply for She Taxis
Sunil Sharma said the government is planning to provide employment opportunities to eligible women by encouraging them to run “She Taxis”. So far the government has received 52 applications from enthusiastic women for “She Taxis”, he said. Following several appeals, the government is planning to give permission to old-age and physically disabled persons to get into TSRTC City Buses from front entrance of the buses, he said. Sharma maintained there was good response from the public on the introduction of a middle door with mesh separating seats for women and men in the City Buses. “Of 4,000 buses, we have introduced middle doors with mesh in 2,000 buses, he said. On complaints pertaining to private operators eating into the revenues of RTC City Buses, he said steps are being taken to check the menace. (NSS)
