In a landmark development for upgradation of the road infrastructure in Central Nagpur, the 27-year-old stalemate regarding the widening of the Old Bhandara Road (National Highway 6) stretch from Mayo Hospital to Sunil Hotel has finally been broken, as administration started demolition of the properties. On February 5, District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar personally visited the site and walked all the way from Mayo Hospital Square till Sunil Hotel, taking a view of the ground situation. He issued a decisive order to start forthwith land acquisition for the 300 plus properties whose compensation has been disbursed by the administration. It is learnt that the demolition of structures obstructing the road widening is going to start with full gusto from Friday onwards.

 

The Collector was accompanied by a high-powered team of officials, including Sub Divisional Magistrate Suresh Bagle, Tehsildar, Nagpur, and senior representatives from the Public Works Department (PWD), Town Planning, and City Survey Departments. To ensure the process remained peaceful, a significant police force, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and local inspectors, was also stationed at the site. Dr Itankar observed that while many property owners had already accepted compensation for their land years ago, the actual widening had remained stalled due to various administrative and legal hurdles. Taking immediate cognisance of the public inconvenience, he directed officials to move forward with the acquisition of these road-affected properties to clear the path for the highway. Three to four more days relief for those who haven’t received the compensation yet is going to be provided.

 

The authorities are going to take taking strict action against the property owners for whom the compensation has already been disbursed. The move marks a significant victory for the Madhya Nagpur Vikas Aghadi, particularly its Convenor, Bhushan Dadwe and Ravindra Paigwar, who have been spearheading a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court for years. The local residents have widely lauded the organisation for its persistence, noting that their struggle of nearly three decades is finally yielding tangible results. The Aghadi was instrumental in pitching for upgradation of the lone road stretch identified in IRDP programme but that got stalled due to lack of decisive action on land acquisition front. The Old Bhandara Road is one of the city’s most congested transit corridors. For decades, the narrowing of the road near Mayo Hospital has caused chronic traffic bottlenecks, affecting emergency services and daily commuters alike. By clearing this bottleneck, the administration is not just fulfilling a legal mandate but is also providing much-needed relief to the residents of Central Nagpur who have lived with dust, congestion and safety risks for 27 years. 

 

 

During the visit of District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar, the Madhya Nagpur Vikas Aghadi pitched for urgency to start forthwith the demolition of properties as the delay in land acquisition has already exacerbated the ground situation. Bhushan Dadwe, social activist, said that he apprised the Collector that in recent exercise, about 202 property owners received the award and prior to that, about 68 owners received the compensation. Further, about 58 properties are that of Nazul, so it does not make any sense to wait for any auspicious moment to start the demolition exercise as it would take further two years to complete the concretisation. Already, the situation in the busy old city area is at bursting point, as daily one can witness chaotic situation due to narrow width of roads and there is not let up in footfalls of shoppers, Dadwe told Collector. It was quite a welcome change, as District Collector personally inspected the entire stretch identified for widening, starting from Mayo Hospital till Sunil Hotel. Collector walked through the Old Nagpur area accompanied with officials and issued instruction for time bound completion of the work.