Nagpur: While the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has prepared a Rs14.46 crore plan to resurface 260 roads — including 135 in the worst-hit category — its zonal offices appear to be unmoved by the problems faced by citizens due to pothole-ridden stretches.Despite municipal commissioner Abhijeet Chaudhari’s July directive to submit proposals for resurfacing the most battered tar roads, only five of NMC’s 10 zones responded, listing just nine stretches for repairs.The zone offices’ apathy is glaring. Major zones like Laxmi Nagar, Hanuman Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Gandhibagh, and Satranjipura — together accounting for over 75 of the worst-hit roads — haven’t submitted a single repair proposal so far.Dhantoli zone, with 18 worst-hit roads as per official list, has put forward a proposal for repairing just one stretch. Mangalwari (26 damaged roads) and Ashi Nagar (18) too have submitted just one road repair proposal. Lakadganj, having eight such roads, also proposed repair of just one road. Dharampeth zone, which has five badly damaged roads, sent repair proposals for all five, revealed an official source from NMC’s hotmix plant department. The fragmented ownership of city roads has added to the commuters’ woes. Barring NMC, most other agencies — including PWD, NIT, and MSRDC — have failed to maintain roads coming under the respective department’s jurisdiction. As a result, tar roads across the city are crumbling, forcing commuters to navigate potholes and risk their lives.The zone offices’ lackadaisical attitude is shocking as Chaudhari, during a mid-July meeting, had stressed that proposals were critical for the upgraded hotmix plants to draw up a repair schedule after the monsoon. “We intend to finish repairs of all tar roads within four months of the calendar year,” an official said, underlining the urgency.The approved master plan divides resurfacing into three tiers: 135 roads with over 50% deterioration (60km) to be taken up first, followed by 87 roads in the second-priority category (38km) and 38 in the third (22km). However, sources alleged that certain officials of NMC’s PWD are deliberately holding back road repair proposals, hoping the work gets diverted to private contractors. On the other hand, residents are expressing anguish over the deteriorating condition of tar roads. Citing an example, Pravin Palkar, a resident of Narendra Nagar, said the stretch of the main road connecting Narendra Nagar to Manish Nagar is full of potholes and uneven surface. Still, there is hardly any effort to provide smooth roads to the taxpayers, he said.
