Suparjya swain 
FEATURE: When roads connect places, they also connect lives. For Sh. Harikrishna, building roads has never been just about infrastructure—it has been about opening up possibilities for people across some of India’s most remote and underserved regions. From a village school in a cattle shed to leading national highway projects, his journey is a powerful story of grit, purpose, and quiet transformation.
Born on January 18, 1973, in the village of Karapadu in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, Harikrishna’s early life was shaped by simplicity, struggle, and ambition. His first classroom was a cattle shed; his dreams, however, were far bigger. He later studied at Rajapuram Zilla Parishat School and went on to pursue civil engineering at Bapatla Engineering College, followed by a Master’s in Engineering from Goa. Motivated by his father—who studied only till Class 5—and his mother, an illiterate woman from Ganjam, Odisha, Harikrishna chose to become an engineer with a clear purpose: to develop the kind of infrastructure that his village had always lacked.
In 1998, he joined the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj (RWS) department as an Assistant Executive Engineer through the APPSC. Tasked with improving water and sanitation in the Addakal Mandal, he brought protected water supply schemes to 33 of 36 habitations (up from just six) and built over 300 household toilets—laying the groundwork for dignity and health in rural communities.
His ambition soon took him to the national level. In 2002, Harikrishna secured an all-India rank of 163 in the UPSC Engineering Services Examination and joined the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). His first posting in Jung, Arunachal Pradesh, had him working in snow-covered, conflict-prone regions. In 2007, as Second-in-Command of the 101 Road Construction Company, he completed a challenging 100-kilometre ring road in the Mahajan Field Firing Range, earning the DGBR commendation for speed and quality despite extreme conditions.
In 2011, he was posted to South Sikkim, where a devastating earthquake struck during his tenure. Harikrishna and his team cleared landslides and restored vital connectivity under dangerous and difficult circumstances. Later promoted to Executive Engineer, he took command in South Mizoram, overseeing a 1,000-kilometre road network in remote and hilly terrain. Under his leadership, the RCC was awarded Best RCC, and over 3,000 local jobs were created through infrastructure development.
Yet, despite his achievements across the country, Harikrishna remained deeply connected to his roots. On every visit home, he dreamed of better roads, faster access, and economic revival for the Odisha-Andhra border region where he belonged. That dream took a major leap forward when, in 2018, he joined the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as Deputy General Manager at RO Vijayawada and soon after became Project Director at PIU Visakhapatnam. He led the NH-16 corridor project from Visakhapatnam to Punital, managing large-scale 4/6-lane upgrades, flyovers, and bridges. His coordination with NTPC enabled the use of fly ash, ensuring eco-friendly and cost-effective construction that significantly reduced travel time.
In 2021, he was posted to NHAI PIU-Berhampur, a region notorious for delays and underperformance. Undeterred, Harikrishna raised the PIU from scratch amid COVID-19, making it fully operational within a month. He took over two long-pending NCLT NH-16 projects and a DPR project from Raipur to Visakhapatnam, executing them all with efficiency and high standards. His efforts generated over 5,000 rural jobs and cut down travel time between Berhampur and other parts of Odisha by nearly two hours—an achievement that visibly improved lives and commerce in the region.
Now settled in Berhampur with his wife, a devoted homemaker, Harikrishna finds joy in seeing his family thrive. His elder daughter, Gayatri Kumari, completed her MBA from IIM Raipur and works at Adani, while his younger daughter, Hamsini Shanti, is preparing for a career in medicine. Even as his professional responsibilities grow, his connection to Odisha continues to deepen.
From building roads in isolated mountain passes to transforming highway networks in coastal states, Sh. Harikrishna has shown what it means to be a true nation-builder. His legacy is etched not just in kilometres of asphalt but in the lives he’s touched, the regions he’s uplifted, and the vision he continues to chase. In a world that often measures impact in headlines and accolades, his story stands tall as a reminder that real change is built step by step, brick by brick—and in Harikrishna’s case, road by road.
