Shops under Tekdi fly-over demolished; ‘Design Disaster’ to be razed today

 

 

Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) has laid the ground for demolition of the Tekdi Road fly-over by removing part of shops under the ‘Design Disaster’. The work on actual demolition of the fly-over and its sub-structure would start on Thursday morning as reported by The Hitavada as Traffic Control Branch notified closure of Tekdi Road fly-over from midnight of July 19 till August 2. The contractor entrusted the task, M/s Matte & Associates had planned to start the demolition work past Wednesday midnight to take advantage of absence of traffic on the Manas Square-Jaistambh stretch on Tekdi Road. However, heavy rains since Wednesday evening affected the work due to water-logging at various places near the structure.

 

MMRCL, in a bid to meet the deadline, had started minor work below the fly-over on Wednesday afternoon. The Shelter Home of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Manas Square was taken down. A small excavator was pressed into service and in the afternoon the work was carried out with perfection. As rains took a break during afternoon, the four side walls of the big room were demolished. Earlier, the contractor put up warning board at either end of fly-over to inform commuters about start of the demolition process. Guards were deployed on Tekdi Road that continuously warned the road users to keep safe distance as the work to demolish the shops under the flyover was on. The Tekdi Road fly-over symbolised all that was wrong with planning and planners and once removed it will pave way for a six-lane concrete road from Jaistambh to Manas Square. With pulling down of the fly-over, the eyesore of the shops below it is also over. The shops portrayed a very bad image of city, as it was first sight when one stepped out of Nagpur Railway Station.

 

The unhygeinic conditions at the eateries, dirty outward appearance and traffic snarl on the Tekdi Road forced a rethink on the need of fly-over. Hence, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) decided to end the menace by removing the fly-over. The 812 meter long fly-over will be consigned to pages of history in a period of next 15-days, the time fixed for wrapping-up the work. In the morning, the entire area is bustling with people as Manas Square is the connecting point for East-West movement of vehicular traffic. The movement of people also increases around the Railway Station and at Bus Stand, which makes it difficult to get the heavy machines to move on this stretch. There seems to be a lack of co-ordination among the agencies and hence the demolition work is likely to be challenging since MMRCL has not yet tied-up the loose end, nor provided traffic block on the Tekdi Road. During the process of cutting down the walls of the fly-over the rubble could fall on the road below. The contractor and his team will have to be extremely careful while carrying out the demolition, and ensure that rubble falls inside the fly-over area.