The Adivasi Shaheed Gowari Flyover, popularly known as the Sitabuldi Flyover, is once again in the news following the construction of four large, uneven speed-breakers near both of its ends. Already notorious for frequent mishaps, the flyover has now become even more perilous. The flyover has been a matter of contention for authorities for quite some time now.

 

The flyover is barred for heavy vehicles but due to the absence of height barriers, heavy vehicles continue to traverse freely on the flyover, causing several accidents. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter after a report filed by The Hitavada, and instructed the authorities to install height barriers to avoid further accidents. The World Bank division of Public Works Department, on advice from the Nagpur Police, then decided to add luminous lights and sensors to enhance visibility and effectiveness of the height barriers along with 

 

 

Shoddy road conditions in Besa-Pipla area proved fatal for a two-wheeler rider who was run over by a car on Wednesday evening in a grisly mishap. The incident occurred near Laxmi Mart around 7.30 pm. As per reports, the entire stretch of Pipla road is in utterly bad shape and only a small patch has been concretised while the work is on since last one year. On Wednesday night, Rangrao Patil, a resident Pyramid City, was on way home on his two-wheeler. Due to uneven road condition and heavy traffic during the evening hours, Patil lost balance. Unfortunately, he came under wheels of a four-wheeler and got dragged for few meters resulting in his death. Soon after the mishap, the traffic on the busy road came to a standstill for a while. Patil was extricated from under the car. Citizens said they had time and again asked for speedy construction of the concrete road but due to lack of funds with Public Works Department (PWD), the contractor is no hurry to speed up the work. The road remains busy as this is the only stretch connecting Hudkeshwar to Besa. Also, the number of new townships and residential localities have increased in Pipla area. Yet authorities have ignored the need for speedy completion of the road. Even the available tar road is not maintained by the contractor and citizens have to risk their lives daily while negotiating the stretch. 

 

 

 

 

It took a fatal mishap to showcase the gravity of sorry state of affairs in Besa-Pipla as authorities and local politicians tried to assuage citizens and promise to speed up development. With elections approaching, ruling party leaders swung into action and on Thursday evening visited the Pipla Road. Naresh Bhoyar and Ankush Dhadse took lead to seek answers from authorities as to timeline for completion of ongoing development work. Bharat Nandanwar, Chief Officer, Besa-Pipla Nagar Panchayat; Harshal Nikose from Public Works Department (PWD); Rajesh Akhre, Deputy Engineer, MSEDCL, were also present at the spot. The politicians expressed resentment that scheduled work is moving at very slow pace, causing inconvenience to citizens. They said in future in case the mishap occurs then the responsibility is going to rest with officers. The officers promised to expedite the ongoing work and also ensure that other allied projects would be completed in scheduled time. Also, the MSEDCL said the work on shifting of electric poles is going to start very soon.

 

 

While the commuters are suffering because of the faulty speed-breakers erected near flyover, the authorities want the public to tolerate it for some more time. Krusha Gharde, Executive Engineer of PWD’s World Bank Division, acknowledged that the PWD is aware of the problem but asked citizens to ‘tolerate’ the discomfort for some more time. “We are aware of the situation and will be taking corrective measures soon. The commuters are finding it difficult as the bumps are new, and the commuters will get used to them with time,’ said Gharde while speaking to The Hitavada. She also assured that the bumps will be painted with paint soon to make them clearly visible even during night. 

 

 

Anger is brewing among citizens in Pipla-Hudkeshwar and adjoining areas over inaction on part of Government machinery in timely completion of cement road. The citizens are contemplating boycotting the ensuing election to Nagar Panchayat, as they claim what’s the use if even a simple road construction cannot be completed in time. The utter bad condition of road, full of potholes, uneven surface, mean daily riders are exposed to risk everyday. Now residents are fed-up of assurance and are in mood to boycott the elections to Nagar Panchayat.