There is a masterclass in infrastructure planning sitting right in front of us — built over 20 years ago, inaugurated just days after its architect died, and apparently forgotten by everyone who came after him.
It is time we talked about what YS Rajasekhara Reddy got right — and what Andhra Pradesh risks getting badly wrong with Bhogapuram.
The Man Who Thought in Systems, Not Projects
Most politicians build things. YSR built ecosystems.
One of the most enduring legacies of Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy was his ability to think beyond standalone projects and build integrated infrastructure systems.
The clearest proof of this? Look at what happened in Hyderabad in 2005.
In 2005, the same year the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport project moved forward, Dr YSR ensured that a world-class road network was planned alongside it. He understood a simple truth — an airport without seamless connectivity is only half a vision.
Read that again. The airport and the road were conceived together, on a single drawing board, in a single year. Not one first and the other later. Not one as an afterthought. Together.
That thinking produced something remarkable.
India’s Longest Flyover — Named After the First Telugu PM
The 11.6-kilometre PVNR Elevated Expressway, built at a cost of ₹570.46 crore by HMDA, connected Mehdipatnam to Aramghar Junction and provided signal-free access to Shamshabad Airport. It was India’s longest flyover when it opened.
India’s longest flyover. Built as a connector to an airport. Because YSR understood that an airport’s real value is measured not in terminals and runways, but in how fast a passenger can get from their front door to the departure gate.
The expressway was named after former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao — the first Telugu Prime Minister. A fitting tribute on a road built to connect Telugu people to the world.
And then came the tragedy.
The expressway was completed in September 2009, but Dr YSR tragically passed away on September 2 — just weeks before its scheduled inauguration. It was later inaugurated by Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
YSR never got to see the road he built open to traffic. But every single Hyderabadi who has zipped to the airport on that expressway in the 16 years since has been quietly benefiting from his foresight.
Now Look at Bhogapuram — And Ask Yourself a Hard Question
The present Bhogapuram Airport project near Visakhapatnam raises important questions. Why is the airport being built first while discussions on a high-speed access corridor to Visakhapatnam city are still ongoing?
This is not a minor oversight. This is a fundamental reversal of everything YSR taught us about infrastructure planning.
A modern international airport’s success depends not only on runways and terminals but also on how quickly passengers can reach the city. If Bhogapuram Airport is inaugurated without a dedicated express road connecting it to Visakhapatnam, the project could face severe criticism — because at present it would take four hours to commute from Vizag city to Bhogapuram Airport in peak traffic hours.
Four. Hours.
Let that sink in. You land at your brand new, world-class international airport — and then you sit in traffic for four hours to reach Visakhapatnam city. That is not progress. That is an embarrassment dressed up as development.
Long travel times may overshadow the entire achievement of building a new airport. All the crores spent, all the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, all the headlines — undone by four hours of gridlock.
The Good News — There Is Still Time
To be fair, the story is not over yet. Not even close.
The present alliance government still has several years left in its term. There is ample time to complete an expressway between Bhogapuram and Visakhapatnam.
The window is open. The lesson is there, written in concrete on the outskirts of Hyderabad. History shows it can be done — Dr YSR demonstrated that major connectivity projects can be executed swiftly when there is political will and clear planning.
The question is not whether it can be done. The question is whether the current leadership has the will to do it — and whether they will do it before the airport opens, or after the complaints start flooding in.
The Verdict
Bhogapuram deserves the same integrated vision that transformed Hyderabad’s airport corridor into a model of urban infrastructure.
Visakhapatnam is the City of Destiny. It deserves an airport people can actually reach.
Build the road. Build it now. Before the terminal opens, before the first flight lands, before the first angry traveller asks: “Who on earth approved a world-class airport with a four-hour commute?”
YSR knew the answer to that question before anyone even thought to ask it.
