SO, FINALLY, steps will be taken soon to correct the wrong design of the Sadar fly-over. And this vow has come from none other than Mr. Nitin Gadkari, the honourable Union Minister for Surface Transport -- who happens to be the Member of Parliament (MP) from Nagpur. By any standard, this is good news for Nagpur. For, when a wrong urban design is sought to be corrected, the city will benefit from the correction. For ‘The Hitavada’, this news (published in ‘CityLine’ of June 13, 2025) brings a sad vindication of several reports and features it has carried in its pages since the completion of the Sadar fly-over project. ‘The Hitavada’ reportage on the issue (in addition to the overall media coverage on the subject) appears to have had some good effect finally -- so much so that Mr. Nitin Gadkari stated clearly that a Rs. 34-crore proposal for redesigning of the Sadar-fly-over is under active consideration of the competent authorities.

 

T HIS news leads to many questions that we -- the people of Nagpur -- must ask of the authorities at all levels:

 

1. Who will pay those Rs. 34 crores for the Sadar fly-over redesign project ?

2. Who made that wrong design ?

3. Who passed that design ?

4. Who cleared the project ?

5. Why did not the people working on the project notice the faulty design at early stages and effect correction ?

6. Is the Government going to punish those who made the wrong design and cleared the project ?

7. Is the Government going to recover the complete cost of correction -- Rs. 34 crore -- from those who are guilty of the faulty design and its implementation (despite several warnings and cautions from public and media) ?

8. There was also a strange issue that afflicted the completion of the work of the Kamptee Road fly-over (in the immediate vicinity of Sadar fly-over) since the authorities had not acquired the land for its landing near the LIC Square.

 

When a public outcry went up, the authorities woke up and hastened the land-acquisition and completed the project. All that also cost not just money and time but also a great inconvenience to the public for long months. Is there any calculation of all that trauma in the Government records ? T HE people of Nagpur have faced serious issues with faulty designs of many such public works in the city in the past few years. These works include under-passes, over-bridges, fly-over approaches and landings, road intersection designs (like the one at the Kripalani Square on Wardha Road near Rahate Colony).

 

These public works have caused the Nagpurians much trauma, inconvenience, time .. what have You ! The local authorities toiled subsequently to effect corrections at most such places. At some places, they did a good job, while in some other places, they only made efforts with mixed results. So the questions: 1. Who is going to be held accountable for all those problems the people faced ? 2. Who is going to pay for all the public money wasted on those badly-designed and hastily-implemented projects ? 3. Does not the law have the provision for punishment to the guilty in such cases ? ‘The Hitavada’ asks these questions on behalf of the people of Nagpur -- with malice towards none.