After four months of anxious wait, the new bridge near Ambazari overflow point is going to be opened for citizens from October 11. A notification issued by the Traffic Branch, Nagpur City Police, said that people can start using the bridge from 4 pm onwards on Friday. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Archit Chandak, mentioned that traffic through the bridge would move from Gajanan Maharaj Temple to Ambazari T-point, as that part of the bridge is complete while work on the second side is still on. However, traffic police have stated that movement of heavy vehicles like bus and trucks, is prohibited on the stretch for the time-being. Also, speed restriction is imposed on the bridge, 20 km/hr, as a safety measure, since there would be up and down movement simultaneously, through one portion of the bridge. The opening of the bridge was badly needed as due to this crucial missing link, people had to take circuitous detours to reach their destination on the other side.

 

Though the administration had made a temporary arrangement by opening road from VNIT campus for one-way movement of two-wheelers from South Ambazari Road to Yeshwant Nagar and ahead. However, the ban on movement of heavy vehicles might be due to narrow width as railings are put in place to allow for both way movement of two-wheelers on the bridge. This move seems strange, as movement of buses is quite critical to ensure faster mobility for citizens on this important to and fro stretch. DCP Chandak while mentioning about speed restrictions, mentioned that the same is put in place to prevent any mishaps The current traffic arrangement is notified till November 10, 2024, and perhaps by that time the second portion of the bridge might also get completed. The new bridge was constructed after demolishing the old one whose height was less and seen as an obstruction for rapid flow of water in the aftermath of overflow of Ambazari lake.

 

Particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods of September 23, 2023, the administration realised the need to have wide opening near the overflow point to ensure that overflowing water discharges quickly into the channel ahead. In aftermath of the floods, the water channel of the Naag River to has been widened from earlier 9 to 12 meters to 18 meters till Ambazari ghat and also the river bed has been deepened so that it can accommodate increased volume of water in case of incessant rains. The reconstruction of the bridge was among slew of measures recommended by the Irrigation Department to High Power Committee (HPC) of top city bureaucrats to avoid repeat of September 2023 floods. Among them now, the construction of retaining wall of Naag River, that is broken at many places, remains to be reconstructed while most of measures are completed.