Minister urges NHAI to take steps to prevent road accidents on NH-67

Minister for Endowments Anam Ramanarayana Reddy urges the NHAI team to consider NH-67 ‘as an accident-prone black spot’ and immediately initiate a safety inspection

Minister for Endowments Anam Ramanarayana Reddy wrote a letter to the officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take steps to avoid accidents on National Highway 67.

His letter comes in the wake of two fatal road accidents that took place at a critical junction on NH-67 (Hubli-Krishnapatnam road) where it intersects with State Highway No. 335 (Atmakur-Hasanapuram) in SPSR Nellore district in the last 15 days.

On June 6, a tragic collision between a car and an auto-rickshaw at this junction resulted in two fatalities on the spot and severe injuries to nine persons. About a week later, another serious accident happened at the same place leaving a person critically injured. Highlighting these accidents, the Minister stressed on the need for remedial action to prevent further loss of life.

In the letter, he asked the NHAI team to consider “this location as an accident-prone black spot and immediately initiate a safety inspection involving the officials from the NHAI, Roads and Buildings (State Highways), Police, Revenue and Road Safety departments”. A joint technical assessment and swift implementation of safety interventions can save the precious lives, he said.

Speaking to The Hindu, M. Kondaiah Chowdary, Project Director of NHAI in Nellore, said, “Over-speed and drink and drive were the basic reasons behind both the accidents cited by the Minister. However, we have written a letter to the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) requesting to conduct a consolidated probe to verify the probable reasons.”

The NHAI officer further said, “We will also conduct a root cause analysis with multiple stakeholders during this week and try to implement the measures to prevent accidents at this stretch of NH-67, which is currently busy with heavy traffic. Once the proposed four laning works between Badvel and Nellore get completed, the traffic will get diverted.”

The work was recently sanctioned but the clearances are yet to come from Forest Department. “If approvals are in place, the green-field alignment will be completed within two years. Some length of the road goes through the forest where they are asking for additional bridges and elevated roads that are huge to accommodate,” he said.

Published - June 17, 2025 07:43 pm IST