Amaravati, Nov 16 (IANS): Constantly facing flak from the opposition parties over the sorry state of roads in the state, the Andhra Pradesh government is preparing to repair as many as 46,000 km of roads, on a war footing. Repairs of 8,268 km of damaged roads are set to begin soon after completion of the tender processes, by the end of this month.

Chairing a review meeting on Monday, chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took stock of the status of road repairs and maintenance in the state. The chief minister instructed officials to ensure that all potholes are filled up before the carpeting of roads is taken up.

Instructing officials to aim for transforming Andhra Pradesh to a 'pot-hole free' state, the chief minister said the repair project for the roads of the state must be approached in a holistic manner, rather than focusing on individual road repairs. He instructed officials to include all Road Over Bridges and Bridges under this repair drive as well.

Under sustained attack by the opposition Jana Sena Party and the Telugu Desam Party over the miserable condition of the state's roads in recent times, the state government has directed officials to carry out all the repairs with diligence and ensure that they are up to the mark, leaving no room for criticism upon completion.

Briefing the chief minister on the status of repair works, officials said that all repairs will take place from December 2021 to June 2022.

Officials have been instructed to document the progress of repair works with the help of 'before' and 'after' pictures of repaired roads. Municipalities, corporations, and Panchayats should have pothole free roads as well, officials were instructed.

The chief minister warned that bid winning contractors for the projects initiated in collaboration with New Development Bank (NDB) will be blacklisted if they do not start work, or cause delays.