A villager who raised the long-pending demand for a bridge across the Pottapalem Kaluju spillway during the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly election campaign has been invited to inaugurate the completed structure as a special guest.
The bridge across the spillway of Nellore Tank has been built at a cost of ₹6.54 crore and is scheduled to be inaugurated on Saturday, according to Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy. The route connects Nellore with several parts of the district and becomes particularly important during the monsoon, when water flows over the spillway.
The villager, Chalapathi, had raised the issue with Sai Vaishnavi, the MLA’s daughter, while she was campaigning for her father at Pottapalem during the 2024 elections. He told her that residents had been seeking a bridge at the location for decades and questioned whether the project would be completed after Sridhar Reddy had already served two terms as MLA.
Vaishnavi had assured Chalapathi that the bridge would be built if her father was elected again. After Sridhar Reddy returned as the Nellore Rural MLA, she took up the issue with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Minister Nara Lokesh, who assured their support for the project, according to the report.
The completed bridge is expected to improve access for commuters from Nellore Rural and neighbouring Kovur, Atmakur, Sarvepalli and Udayagiri constituencies. Its location across the Pottapalem Kaluju spillway addresses a recurring access problem on a route used by people travelling between Nellore and other parts of the district.
The project also illustrates how a local infrastructure demand raised during an election campaign moved through political representation and government funding before reaching completion. The MLA said the government sanctioned ₹6.54 crore for construction of the bridge.
Vaishnavi personally met Chalapathi on Friday to invite him to the inauguration. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on Saturday, following completion of the bridge works.
