Promise of a bridge on river Krishna unites poll-bound netas across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana border

HYDERABAD: It may be a bridge too far, but a promise related to it has become a hot poll issue in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In Telangana, BJP candidate from Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha seat in Mahbubnagar district and in AP, YSRC candidate from Atmakur assembly seat in Kurnool district have both promised to get the bridge constructed at the earliest if elected.

The bridge has been a long-pending demand of the people on both sides of the border as once constructed across river Krishna, the Somasila-Siddeswaram bridge would greatly reduce the travel time as the distance by road between Kollapur (Mahbubnagar in Telangana) and Atmakur (AP) is about 175 km.
The clamour for construction of the bridge gained momentum after 61 persons drowned in Krishna when their boat capsized near Nehru Nagar in Kurnool distirct on Jan 19, 2007. The passengers were on their way to take part in Singotam Jatra in Kollapur. The then CM of united AP, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, promised that a bridge would be built to link Kollapur and Atmakur and sanctioned Rs 50 crore.
But YSR died in a chopper crash in 2009 and the project then got swept away in the Telangana agitation storm.
In 2011, N Kiran kumar Reddy, the last CM of united AP, issued a fresh GO sanctioning Rs 250 crore for the bridge. Soil tests too were conducted, but nothing progressed after that.
TRS bridge promise attracted MLA
After the formation of Telangana in 2014, KCR’s cabinet approved the plan and another GO was issued sanctioning ?190 crore. Minister Jupally Krishna Rao also initiated a dialogue with the AP government and urged the latter to release their portion of funds. The bridge plan, however, still remained a pipe dream. Now, in election season, the issue has come in handy for poll-bound politicians. Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha BJP candidate Bangaru Shruthi, and Atmakur Assembly seat candidate Mekapati Gautam Reddy (YSRC) are now united on one issue — building the bridge. Kollapur MLA B Harshavardhan Reddy, who jumped ship from Congress to TRS, has told his constituency that it was the bridge promise that made him join TRS.
In the meantime, the wait for the bridge, which requires cooperation between the two states, continues.