The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has left a one-kilometre cement concrete road connecting LAD Square with Shraddhanandpeth via VNIT in limbo for nearly six months, unable to decide whether to proceed with the sanctioned project or redesign it as a walkable street — a move that could require an additional Rs8 crore.
30 of 33 roads near completion, but key stretch lags
While 30 out of the 33 roads taken up under NMC's Phase-IV cement road project are nearing completion, work on this crucial arterial stretch in South-West Nagpur has barely progressed beyond laying around a 300-metre stormwater drain network. The 1-km road, proposed to be converted from bituminous to cement concrete pavement, was designed with a carriageway width varying between 18 metres at two locations and 24 metres along the remaining stretch. Detailed drawings and estimates have been prepared, but the project hit a roadblock after city planners pushed for implementing a walkable street concept along the corridor.
Walkable street vision clashes with financial reality
The proposal envisages wider footpaths, improved pedestrian infrastructure, and enhanced public spaces. However, officials estimate that redesigning the road into a walkable street would require an additional Rs8 crore. With no dedicated budgetary provision available, the project has virtually come to a standstill. The delay has also reignited a debate over urban priorities in a corridor that already witnesses heavy traffic movement.
Residents oppose footpath widening, cite congestion risks
Corporator Vijay Parashram Hole of Prabhag 13 (D), along with residents of Corporation Colony, Daga Layout, Abhyankar Nagar, Bajaj Nagar, Shraddhanandpeth and Shankar Nagar, have opposed the proposed widening of footpaths and reduction in carriageway width. In a representation submitted to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Hole argued that the road is one of the main connecting links to Hingna MIDC and carries heavy traffic, including school buses and autorickshaws. Residents warned that narrowing the carriageway could aggravate congestion, increase accident risks and encourage encroachments by hawkers. They cited the Abhyankar Nagar-Bajaj Nagar stretch as an example where a similar footpath-widening exercise allegedly turned into a nuisance and hotspot for illegal activities.
Monsoon threat looms over unfinished infrastructure
With the monsoon knocking at the door, residents fear another season of dug-up roads and unfinished infrastructure. For now, NMC appears caught between an ambitious urban design experiment and a sanctioned road project awaiting execution. Unless additional funds are tied up quickly or the walkable street proposal is shelved, one of South-West Nagpur's busiest corridors may remain trapped in planning paralysis while the rains test the city's preparedness yet again.
