Bhumi Puja to be performed for Pottepalem sluice bridge on January 5

The Bhumi Puja for the construction of a bridge over the Pottepalem sluice spillway will be held on January 5, 2026 (Monday), in the presence of Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, MLC and TDP district president Beeda Ravichandra, and Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy. Once completed, the bridge will fulfil the decades-old dream of Nellore residents for hassle-free connectivity to the western parts of the district.

Water flows over the spillway of Nellore Cheruvu for at least seven months a year after the monsoon, severely disrupting movement on the narrow road. Two-wheelers are the worst affected, and vehicles sometimes face the risk of being washed away when the flow is abnormally high. The State government has sanctioned ₹4.85 crore for the bridge, which will make crossing the sluice safer and easier, benefitting the constituencies of Nellore Rural, Sarvepalli, Atmakur, Kovur, and Udayagiri.

It may be recalled that Mr. Sridhar Reddy had staged a ‘Jala Deeksha’ demanding the bridge when he was in the YSRCP, after pursuing the project for several years. After joining the TDP-led NDA and being re-elected in 2024, he personally took up the issue with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and secured administrative sanction for the project.

TDP leader Kotamreddy Giridhar Reddy on Sunday inspected the arrangements at the venue along with Sri Vedagiri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam Chairman Indupur Achyut Reddy, Agricultural Market Committee Chairman Manubolu Sridhar Reddy, and Nellore Rural MLA office in-charge Datla Chakravardhan Reddy.