The standing committee on finance for the Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways (MoRTH) has approved a two-storied cable bridge across the river Krishna at Somasila to connect Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, realising the 15-year-old wish of people on either side of the river.
The new bridge with four-lane carriageway to be taken up at an estimated cost of about ₹1,100 crore is set to reduce the travel distance between Hyderabad and Tirupati by 90 km via Nandyal, avoiding going round Kurnool. It will also reduce the travel distance between Hyderabad and Kadapa and Chittoor.
According to officials, the new bridge will put an end to the woes of people in Kollapur (Nagarkurnool) area travelling to AP as they had no other option but to take risky boat journey to cross the Krishna river and enter AP for their onward journey to pilgrimage centres such as Mahanandi, Ahobilam, Tirupati, Srikalahasthi, Kanipakam and others as well as places such as Atmakur, Nandyal, Allagadda, Kadapa, Chittoor and others in less time compared to road travel via Kurnool.
