Category: Infrastructure

Nagpur updates:-Although the Rs218 crore Y-shaped Sadar flyover has reduced the time taken by motorists to move from Samvidhan Square to Katol Road Square and Mankapur Square, NHAI has failed to address several shortcomings in the bridge that was opened to the public on January 10.

The traffic chaos at the Kamptee-Wardha Road landing point, between Samvidhan Square and LIC Square, is now evident to everyone. TOI motorized the flyover in a car with Sandeep Agrawal, a resident of Raj Nagar (Sadar) who pointed out the many safety measures needed on and under the flyover that the NHAI had overlooked.

From all three directions, we took the flyover and also flew under the flyover. Agrawal said the travel time for the flyover has been cut. “Earlier, driving speed was 30 km per hour, but almost doubled with the flyover. Today, in 4–5 minutes, we can hit the other end of the flyover, “he said.

We started from Katol Chowk at 10.30am and even before we climbed the flyover we saw several vehicles heading down the wrong side. Before the Katol Road side flyover intersects with the other wing of the flyover near Anjuman College, it was a smooth ride for more than a kilometer.

This point of intersection requires a path divider, as many cars have been seen heading down the wrong lane. In addition, dividers should also be mounted in all three directions at the flyover entrance and exit points — Katol Chowk, Mankapur and near Kasturchand Park.
Lack of lane discipline, especially at the curves, can cause accidents over the flyover. Agarwal suggested that NHAI should build dividers at such places to bifurcate vehicle up and down movement.

Bicycle riders, usually forbidden to use any sadar flyovers, have also been found using it. We also saw a bus making a U-turn after their driver noticed that he had gone into the wrong lane. Agarwal also noted that the Sadar flyover landing near Kasturchand Park is a permanent black spot.

Then, we made a U-turn from Samvidhan Square and headed toward Katol Road under the flyover. When we continued the situation escalated. A bottleneck was in the shelter of an NIT city bus. At this point, removing encroachments and illegally parked vehicles will ease congestion considering the narrowed lane.

“Beneath the flyover, close to the NIT bus stop, traffic police and NMC need to take action against unauthorized passenger vehicles and some vendor intrusions,” he said.
Vehicle parking at either side of the road should be overcome by allocating space between the pillars of the flyover. “Due to lack of sunlight, the planting drive between the pillars will not succeed anyway,” he pointed out. Better use of those patches is to solve the problem of parking along the road, he said.

The width of the divider is more on either side from Chhaoni Durga Mandir towards Katol Chowk. “I believe the footpath width at this stretch can be decreased to increase road width, which can provide smooth vehicle movement,” he said.
We also noticed a private school parking their staff vehicles using the footpath alongside the flyover near Raj Nagar. There is also a need to cut a huge tree in the middle of Sadar road alongside the flyover since it has reduced the width of the road and can cause mishaps.

CCTVs should also be installed at flyover intersection points which can be used to penalize wrong side drivers and rash drivers.
Suggestions ON SADAR flyover 24-hour survey by all the agencies concerned, NHAI, RTO, traffic police, NGOs such as Jan Aakrosh etc. Dividers nearly all along the flyover, particularly at entry / exit points, curves, parts where traffic merges and intersects Reduce speed, prevent U-turns, wrong-sided driving Some speed breakers, big signage and blink amber light at intersection point (Acharaj Square) Pr Widen 100-200 meters of road adjacent to all flyover points to avoid bottlenecks on state and national highways taken by heavy traffic, including ST busses Slow traffic or vehicle breakdown in narrow stretches will result in congestion where traffic flows, such as defence zones, cinemas, NIT office, Raj Nagar etc.

A PLAN OF ACTION Regular traffic police manning to stop untoward incidents In-depth recce to identify issues. Next, introduce remedial measures below the flyover.

Suspend traffic on flyover for a few days, if necessary, to complete civil works Inaugurate it again with the participation of Sadar shopkeepers, MOIL officers, heads of schools and colleges, RTO officers, driving class members, military personnel, MSRTC officials, private bus owners and others who would use it, to increase their project pride, ensure compliance.

Nagpur updates:- MahaMetro, who was asked to execute the Jai Stambh Square traffic improvement scheme by Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, plans to partially raze the railway station flyover next month. However, the plan may be stalled by opposition from the shopkeepers to be affected.

An official at MahaMetro said Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had instructed the agency to rehabilitate the shopkeepers first and then go in for demolition. “We’ve got 72 shopkeepers to rehabilitate. We have already built 40 temporary shops near the railway station flyover, and by the end of the month, 20 more will be ready. Once the shopkeepers move to the new shops, we’ll begin to demolish the railway station flyover from one side, “he added.

The official said the majority of the shopkeepers wanted monetary compensation rather than shops. “Who will pay the money, MahaMetro or NMC, is yet to be determined,” he further said.

MahaMetro plans to build a large commercial complex to house the shops. It will be linked by a foot overbridge to the railroad station. The corporation will also construct a multi-level car park close to the site. The ground floor will be used by city buses while the upper floors will be used for four-wheel and two-wheel parking.

The railway station flyover must be demolished as MahaMetro wants to build a six-lane road across from the railway station. As defence land is needed for the road, a four-lane road will be constructed first and a further two lanes will be added when the ground is available.

Under the flyover, there are 165 stores. There are two unions between the shopkeepers. The first union has owners of 72 stores that existed before the flyover was built. NMC allocated the shops at a cost of each Rs8 lakh. Such shops are situated across from the entrances to the railway station. The other union has 93 shopkeepers away from the entrances to have their shops. Through paying for the Rs10.20 lakh, they got the shop.

The 93 shopkeepers do not want new shops, they want monetary compensation instead. They had met with Gadkari, who approved their application. In this regard, they will meet with Mayor Sandip Joshi Thursday morning.

Nilesh Khorgade, these shopkeepers ‘ representative, said, “We’re going to be assigned shops at the backside and so we’re not going to get any customers. Even now, since our establishments are at a distance from the entrance, we don’t get many customers. So we want cash. “The other group of shopkeepers are not willing to shift to temporary shops. “The building is without drains and water connections. Most of the shops are restaurants here. How do we work without a drain and without water? NMC needs to first develop the commercial complex and then demolish the railway station flyover, “Ramu Wankhede said. Another shopkeeper said that if he was forced to move to temporary shops he would petition the court.

Nagpur: Union surface transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has assured people of giving full support to the protection of trees and the environment in the news that could help ruffled environmentalists. The two-time town MP, speaking exclusively to TOI, said cutting trees “was always the last choice for any project.” Gadkari spoke a day after the municipal authorities decided to drop plans to build a road through flourishing biodiversity in the city’s Bharat Nagar area owned by Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV).

Calling himself an environment lover, Gadkari said, “As I think about growth, the primary focus is on ensuring progress and protection of the environment go hand in hand. I am very alert to such issues and I assure the citizens that I will give my full support. “Affirming that not a single tree would be cut in the urban mini-forest rechristened as’ Bharat Van,’ Gadkari said,” A lot of people came to meet me and we decided to find a middle way after various discussions. Our goal was to find a solution that would not harm the trees in Bharat Van. I am pleased today that not one single tree will need to be cut for this road project. “As reported earlier by TOI, on 3 April last year, hundreds of environmentally conscious people including Bharat Nagar residents, green activists, children, doctors, senior citizens and members of various civil society groups gathered to meet with Gadkari, raising their voices against the” environmental foeticide “which was expected to kill Bharat Van.

TOI was the first to comment on the planned road that was part of the nearby reconstruction project for Telangkhedi Lake. In Gadkari’s own words, his “dream project” has been the facelift for the lake by building a musical fountain and an elevated viewing gallery. This paper had also highlighted how the development plans endanger more than 500 age-old trees and a rich biodiversity ecosystem.

Environment activists in the city, welcoming the minister’s stance, stressed that the next focus should be on conserving the Telangkhedi lake. “We are thankful that the Minister has taken a decision which takes into account citizens ‘ concerns. The 220-year-old lake is on the verge of dying, while Bharat Van is now healthy. It is full of garbage, silt, and hyacinth of water which causes its dissolved oxygen levels to drop. Even if the musical fountains and other activities begin, the lake will die in a few years ‘ time, “Nagpur’s honorary wildlife warden, Jaydeep Das said.

Based on reports from TOI, Das had written a letter to Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench outlining the adverse impacts of the proposed route. HC dealt with his letter on 3 December 2018 as a suo motu public interest litigation.

Meanwhile, Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Public Works Department (PWD), MahaMetro, which is the project’s executing agency, has confirmed that dropping the road was a joint decision of itself. “The Metro had no central role in this project’s policy-planning. The roadbuilding plan was submitted as per PWD guidelines, which manages the entire project’s planning and financing, “the agency said. It added that PWD had informed MahaMetro of changes at any point.

Nagpur: While Nitin Raut, the new energy minister, has ruled out the scrapping of two new 660MW thermal units at the Koradi power plant, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar wants new ones at Nashik.

A source in Mahagenco said Nashik power plant only has three units. “Only one is currently being run as the electricity is more costly than other power stations. Plans have been made for a 660MW device but it is stuck because of the question posed by the defence ministry (MoD) over the chimney height, “he added.

Chhagan Bhujbal, minister of Nashik, wants new units there to get work for local people. He asked Mahagenco to start new ones there, but he did not get a lot of reaction. And he told his boss, Sharad Pawar.

The source said Pawar recently held a meeting with Mahagenco’s president-cum-managing director (CMD) and other senior officials in this regard.

The officials told him the height of the chimney problem. We also said that because the Nashik plant was far from coal mines, its power costs were higher than those located in Vidarbha. “We told him that the merit order dispatch (MOD) would not buy Nashik money,” the source said.

But Pawar was steadfast on new units. Therefore, the officials recommended that the old non-operational units be restored and made online. The NCP chief has asked officials to submit a report on all the options within days.

Although it is difficult for Mahagenco to receive environmental clearance for Koradi units, it is not ready to move them to Nashik, where local people are ready.

Local environmentalists mocked Mahagenco’s claims that it would not buy Nashik electricity. “Mahagenco will sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with its sole customer, MSEDCL, and if power is required then Nashik power will be consumed,” an environmentalist said.

The Mahagenco source also said Nashik power would be costly too at over Rs4 per unit with solar power costing about Rs3 per unit. But this argument also holds true for Koradi groups.

Raut wants new units in Koradi, creating 5,000 jobs for the locals. However, due to increased pollution, he is completely ignoring the damage to people’s health.

The newly opened Sadar flyover has eased the traffic snarls at otherwise busy Sadar bazaar road but ultimately led to another traffic chaos at the end of the flyover at the Reserve Bank. This major construction glitch came to light on Sunday when the flyover saw maximum traffic due to the Khasdar Krida Mahotsav and Nagpur Rural Police Welfare programs, organized respectively at Mankapur Sports Stadium and Indoor Stadium. The absence of traffic signals at the end of the flyover to Reserve Bank square jammed vehicles, throwing traffic out of gear. Many vehicles approach from Reserve Bank square to LIC square and at the same time flyover vehicles often culminate on AFO square, just before RBI square, which leads to violent vehicle confrontation. Since there is no traffic signal there is going to be a routine jam at this spot. Barricades were put up on a temporary basis just after the end of the flyover which only adds to the problem. It clearly shows a lack of considerate project execution. On January 10, when Union Minister Nitin Gadkari dedicated the flyover to the public, Gadkari suggested the issue after inspection and recommended that traffic signals be mounted at the spot in complete sync with the signals on LIC and RBI squares.

Another case like Ram Jhula?

Due to the convergence of vehicles from both Ram Jhula and Tekdi flyover, similar traffic deadlock was observed when the Ram Jhula ending towards Kingsway road created total traffic mayhem. The temporary construction of barricades has now covered up this issue as well. Experts are of the opinion that the degree of execution itself did not apply any thoughts.

By the end of December 2019, MahaMetro had agreed to open all Reach I (Sitabuldi to Khapri stretch) stations. But officials now say it’s going to take another six months.
Figures from the Metro indicate that opening new stations has boosted ridership. Notwithstanding this, the stations have not been opened as planned. Reach I was inaugurated in March 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Five stations— Sitabuldi Interchange, Airport, Airport South, New Airport, and Khapri — were operational at that time. It took another six months for MahaMetro to open a new station in November— Jai Prakash Nagar. Five more stations need to be opened— Rahate Colony, Nagar Congress, Ajni Square, Nagar Chhatrapati and Nagar Ujjwal. Rahate Colony station would be launched this month, according to a Metro official. “The stations in Chhatrapati Nagar and Ajni Square will be ready in February, while the station in Congress Nagar will be ready for the first week of March or April. Ujjwal Nagar station is going to take a while because we recently got the ground. The landowner had been moving the case, “the official said.
According to the official, the opening of Congress Nagar station could be further delayed as Metro plans anyhow to open the Manish Nagar Railway Underbridge (RUB) in March. “As the contractor is the same for both works, at the station’s cost, he may concentrate on the RUB,” he said.Metro can complete the construction according to its schedule, but it will take longer to open the stations. Metro Rail Safety Commissioner (CMRS) will have to inspect each station and then give a green signal to open it to the public. Therefore, Metro officials expect all stations to be open by the middle of the year, except for Ujjwal Nagar. Commenting on the reasons for the delay, the official said the original contractor ILFS was forcing the Metro tore-tender the works. The official said the work on Reach III stations (Sitabuldi to Lokmanya Nagar stretch) was progressing at full speed. “This month’s station at Bansi Nagar will be ready. The station in Wasudeo Nagar is almost complete. The stations of Rachna T-point, LAD Square and Shankar Nagar will be ready by April or as soon as possible in May. The station at Dharampeth College will be the last one because it has a gallery of viewing, “he added. Commenting on the delay in Reach III’s opening, the official said this month it was expected.