Around 2,000 to 3,000 residents of Prabhag number 34D on the Manewada-Besa road in South Nagpur are struggling to get their internal roads fixed. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) authorities are attributing the delay in reconstructing the road to reservation for a park. Frustrated, the residents have asked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s office in Mumbai to help speed up the road repair.
According to a local daily report, a group of residents joined hands and temporarily repaired their pothole-ridden road. “. “We have been demanding a proper road for the past 3.5-4 years, as it gets completely damaged during the rains. Despite complaints, neither the sitting MLA, any corporator in the past, any officials from either NMC or Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) came to inspect the road. Left with no option, we constructed the road in front of our houses,” said affected residents Dharampal Bondhade, Shankar Bisen, and Sanjay Mate. Local resident Bhushan Varade mentioned that they initially approached the NMC.
“We urged the civic body to repair the existing tar road. Besides Aradhana Nagar-1, the condition of roads is pitiable in over a dozen areas like Yashoda Hospital road, Alankar Nagar, Sandekar Layout, Mangaldeep Nagar-2, Shahu Nagar, and others. These areas come under NMC’s Hanuman Nagar zone and Prabhag number 34D,” he said. The NMC has informed residents that these areas fall under the jurisdiction of the NIT, whom they should approach for road repairs. Varade pointed out that riding on roads in this part of the city during the rainy season becomes difficult due to the sludge. “We face significant traffic problems, and accidents have become commonplace,” he said.
The NIT has expressed its inability to reconstruct the roads in Aradhana Nagar-1 because the area is reserved as a park according to the development plan of Nagpur city. A senior NIT official confirmed that Shahu Nagar, Yashodhara Hospital Road, and nearby areas have been handed over to the civic agency for maintenance. “However, areas falling under Alankar Nagar, Sandekar Layout, Mangaldeep Nagar-2, and Aradhana Nagar-1 are reserved as ‘park’ according to the approved development plan for Nagpur city. Therefore, no improvement works for amenities like roads can be carried out there,” said the official.
The NIT also cited a high court order as the reason for not carrying out any development work. However, the affected residents pointed out that despite the court order, civic agencies have undertaken many development projects in areas reserved for parks. South Nagpur MLA Mohan Mate confirmed the residents’ plight and said he has already raised the issue during the ongoing budget session of the state assembly. “I have demanded that the government cancel the park reservation and regularize the houses of the 3,000 affected families,” he said.