The ambitious plan to transform Nagpur into a Smart City has become a nightmare for citizens. With large infrastructure and renovation projects announced every fortnight, the city has started to witness traffic jams as a common phenomenon alike big metro cities. While the city fathers might be eyeing long term benefits of this projects, lack of co-ordination between different agencies and the failure of robust police machinery in place has created chaos on the road. The situation is raising concerns both over the development works and the administration. Many places in city now witness bumper-to-bumper traffic. Ditches left unattended, construction of cement road, narrowed lanes due to fly-overs, unchecked encroachment and haphazard parking are blocking the city arteries. Citizens are fuming as their travel time has doubled, impacting work, appointments, and an earlier easy quality of life. While the tag line might be ‘Today’s pain is tomorrow’s gain’, the picture on ground in the city however is perpetual inconvenience, which is now bordering on testing Nagpurians’ patience. Projects launched earlier are still not complete and new one have been taken-up and this is the reason that the citizens are left fuming as they don’t know whom to blame. With given timeline for projects not being met, the slew of ambitious projects are going to drag on for years and years, notwithstanding the thrust that country needs infrastructure projects to tackle tomorrow’s rising need.

 

‘The Hitavada’ undertook stock taking exercise of the existing infra works and talked to a cross section of people who were unanimous in their views that proper balancing is needed. No doubt, the city infrastructure needs to be upgraded, but only concrete is being randomly poured in erecting grotesque projects left, right and centre. While the dream-sellers promised sometimes Shanghai, sometimes Paris, New York and London, what is being dished out is a disaster in name of development. The ill effect of the development was already seen in September when number of residential localities on banks of Naag river got flooded. Shubdha Phaltankar, a resident of Chichbhuwan says, “It used to take a maximum of 25 minutes from my home to reach to work in Civil Lines. Now, with all the digging and diversions, it takes more than 50 minutes. Earlier, the drive on Wardha Road was a peaceful and pleasant one. But the greenery has now gone and the traffic has worsened. The road now witnesses bumper-to-bumper traffic. There are many junctions, where I have to wait for over two turns to cross the signal. It’s frustrating and exhausting, and the worst part is that there seems to be no end in sight."

 

 

 

The woes extend beyond individual inconvenience. Businesses and emergency services are also facing the brunt of the congestion. Abdul Parikh, a timber merchant who owns a shop on Old Bhandara Road stated , “The road in front our shop was concretised but the authorities did not take any efforts to widen the storm drain line in accordance with growing urbanisation. During monsoon, there is two feet deep water on our store and godown. We use water pumps to flush out the water. Work has to stopped as the workers cannot operate their machines,” he lamented. Another shopkeeper Chandrakant Kumbhare said that he had requested the local MLA to not authorise a fly-over on Old Bhandara Road as same will not help to solve any purpose. But the authorities are moving ahead with its construction despite opposition from stakeholders. Customers now skip stopping at his shops and his business is severely affected. Experts and citizens point their fingers towards the Police Department. “The absence of a strong officer in-charge of the traffic department is the root cause. Many of the traffic problems in city can be solved if concrete actions are taken against erring drivers regularly. The fear of traffic police has receded. The city came to a standstill on Monday when an agitation was staged near Freedom Park. Senior citizens, school children and emergency services were stuck for hours in traffic.

 

What was the police machinery doing then?” asked Sanjeev KM. Citizens also pointed out that diversions are poorly planned and not communicated. The alternative routes fail to handle the traffic flow. This approach is not sustainable for a growing city like Nagpur. Jagjit Singh, owner of Hindustan Furniture near Panchasheel Square comments, “New infra works being undertaken in city are ornamental decorations. There is no thought put into the maintenance of old roads. The bridge near Panchasheel Square collapsed during last monsoon. The bridge was worn out and we’d made multiple complaints to the authorities concerned, but they fell on deaf ears. The consequences are for all to see. Citizens now have to take a detour from Jhansi Rani Square if they have to come towards Panchasheel Square. Construction of cement road near Yashwant Stadium is underway while the bridge at University Library square was closed for nearly two years. If the authorities fail to maintain such important routes within the heart of the city, how will they maintain the new ones ?,” questioned aggrieved Singh.

 

A major problem of the multiple development works is the dust generated from construction activities posing a significant health hazard, especially for those with respiratory issues. Many residential areas are witnessing dust on an unending basis, which was not seen earlier. While multiple development works are undertaken simultaneously, citizens have questioned the timeline. Aniket Daherwal, who owns a house near Lakdi Pul in Mahal states, “Coming towards West Nagpur was a pleasant thing. But now it is a thing of the past. Our area is crowded but atleast the traffic is moving. We are never stuck in one place. Traffic jams after crossing Nagpur Railway Station have now become an everyday thing. I just avoid going towards RBI Square unless it’s an emergency,” he added. Another citizen, Varsha Pohekar, resident of Samarth Nagar (East) says, “We are trapped. There is cement road work going in our area. Also the road going towards Vivekanand Square is blocked. Similarly, the road opening beside Ajni Metro Station has had repair works going on for a long time. We don’t know how to get out of our area. It's like solving a puzzle.”

 

While West Nagpur is facing its problems, many works have also started in East Nagpur that are leaving citizens perplexed. The current situation in Nagpur serves as a reminder that development, while necessary, must be accompanied by responsible planning and execution. The city's leadership needs to prioritise citizens’ well-being and ensure a smooth transition towards a more sustainable future. Only then can the dream of a transformed Nagpur become a reality, without turning daily commutes into a nightmare. Currently, the works that are under consideration are: cementing of Wardha Road from Hotel Pride to Rahate Colony; Maharajbagh to VCA, Civil Lines, Panchasheel Square bridge, University Library square bridge, Cement Road in Dhantoli connecting Mehadia Square, fly-over construction connecting Dighori to Kamal Chowk, fly-over near Motibagh connecting Kadbi Chowk to Mominpura, construction of fly-over on Old Bhandara Road, construction of fly-overs on Amravati Road, the ramp of fly-over at LIC Square connecting Automotive Square.

 

While Pardi fly-over was opened for public few months back, two arms - one leading to Swami Narayan temple and one towards Day-2-Day Haldirams outlet remains incomplete. Similarly, only one part of the underground bridge is complete and work is in progress. The once big and wide roads of the city, have been reduced to small by-lanes, causing chaos on everyday basis. The sole reason is pumping of unrequited projects, slammed down the throat of common man who does not have a say in any of these ongoing projects. Pardi Square is also a prime example of what to expect as the project here is still incomplete despite seven years of construction period. And the completed work, instead of solving the problem has ended-up creating a maze, too difficult to manoeuvre.