The Pardi underpass, part of a ₹665-crore project built by Gannon Dunkerley & Co. Ltd. (GDCL) and SMS Infrastructure Ltd. (SMSIL) under the NHAI, has turned into a civic nightmare. Instead of easing traffic, it has become a daily death trap for commuters.
The blunder begins with its design. A concrete slab hangs in the middle, leaving just 3.5 metres clearance — far below the height of most heavy vehicles. Sleeper buses are 3.8–4.0 metres, tippers and cement mixers cross 4.2 metres. None can pass safely. To add insult, NHAI put a height barrier only at one end. Result? Trucks enter freely from the open side, smash into the slab, and then get caged at the barrier on the exit.
The chaos is routine. In September, a truck tore down the tin roof at the entrance — the third such collapse here. Locals scoff at quick-fix repairs. “Every few months something crashes. This is a design disaster, not bad luck,” says Anil Shukla, who runs a shop nearby.
The geography worsens the crisis. With the railway line above, there is no alternate ground crossing. Heavy vehicles can neither bypass nor use the underpass. When one gets stuck, the entire route chokes, leaving commuters trapped “between the slab below and the railway above.”
This is not an underpass — it’s a ₹665-crore blunder. Citizens are demanding nothing less than reconstruction, higher clearance, and accountability. Until then, Pardi underpass stands as Nagpur’s symbol of wasted money and daily danger.
👉 Click here to read the latest Gujarat news on TheLiveAhmedabad.com