Vizianagaram Collector Orders GMR to Repair Roads Damaged by Airport Work

Vizianagaram Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy has directed GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL) to immediately repair roads damaged by heavy vehicles during construction of the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram.

The direction was issued on Tuesday (October 13, 2026), after difficulties faced by residents and farmers in villages near the airport were reported.

The Collector also asked GVIAL to lay new roads wherever necessary, using corporate social responsibility (CSR) or other funds.

The stated aim is to ensure that people living in villages adjacent to the airport can travel without difficulty.

Action follows report on village connectivity

The Hindu had reported on October 12, 2026, that roads damaged during the airport construction had left villages cut off and prevented farmers from reaching their fields.

The report covered the difficulties faced by people in Dibbalapalem, Ravada, Byreddipalem, Gudepuvalasa, Kancheru and other villages.

Responding to the report, Mr. Ramsundar Reddy spoke to senior revenue officials and senior executives of GVIAL.

He asked the company representatives to take up the road repairs immediately.

The report said many villages had been cut off from one another after the airport was built on nearly 2,500 acres.

Farmers were unable to take their produce home or carry fertilisers to their fields because the approach roads had been damaged.

Officials had said that a shortage of funds had delayed the work.

“We directed the GVIAL authorities to take up road repairs immediately since many farmers had complained that they are unable to move to their agriculture fields also. The approach roads got damaged and there was a cut off of the connectivity between many villages. We will constantly follow up the issue and ensure road repairs very soon,” Mr. Ramsundar Reddy told The Hindu.

NHAI asked to improve service-road link

The Collector also said he had asked National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials to ensure connectivity between the airport and the service roads of the national highway as early as possible.

“During return trip from the airport, everyone has to move to six lane roads instead of service roads. NHAI assured to do necessary changes in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Passengers using the service roads currently have to travel at least eight kilometres to reach the highway, which The Hindu had reported as the only route to the airport.

The Collector said NHAI would also widen the service road so that its traffic could merge with the six-lane road near the Rajapulova junction.

The junction lies between Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.

Mr. Ramsundar Reddy said there would be no congestion on the service road at Rajapulova once the improvements were made at the junction.

He also said the administration would constantly follow up on the road-repair issue and ensure that the work was taken up soon.

The orders cover both the damaged approach roads affecting nearby villages and the service-road connection used by passengers travelling to and from the airport.

Source: The Hindu