Vijayawada: Union minister of state for rural development and communications, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, announced that the Centre has sanctioned the construction of a ramp connecting national highway-16 to the service road in Guntur to Vijayawada direction connecting AIIMS Mangalagiri. The new ramp will significantly reduce the travel distance to the hospital from 4.66 km to 1.26 km.The sanction also includes sufficient signage indicating directions to reach AIIMS Mangalagiri. The proposed ramp will reduce the travel distance to the AIIMS less than one third of the distance, within proposed stretch on roads.In a statement issued on Monday, Dr Chandrasekhar said that they could get the project sanctioned by the Centre for the benefit of people visiting AIIMS hospital in Guntur district. “We have secured approval to convert the entry ramp on NH-16 at km 429+400 in Mangalagiri into an exit ramp. As many as 13 directional boards will be installed at 3 locations on NH-16 towards AIIMS for clarity and convenience of visitors.”He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Nitin Gadkari for their cooperation in getting the clearance. Highlighting the Union government’s efforts toward the development of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani stated that several projects were cleared by the Centre immediately after a request is made by chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.
