Kamptee Road riddled with potholes, agencies pass buck in Maharashtra

NAGPUR: Two busy stretches of Kamptee Road, including the one from LIC Square to Mount Road T-point, have turned into accident prone spots due to bad condition of the carriageway. The stretches have been not recarpeted completely in last over one decade or more.
The concerned government agencies - MahaMetro, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) - are passing the buck to each other, with no clear plan on the anvil to at least repair the potholes.

The entire road has become non-motorable from LIC Square to Mount Road. Tar surface layer has almost disappeared from the road with deep and wide potholes common on the stretch.
Senior advocate Shashibhushan Wahane told TOI, "I reside in a flat scheme on this stretch. Life is miserable due to the bad road. Accidents and traffic congestion have become routine affair."
Wahane added a big neem tree also fell in front of Girish Heights building recently. "At least ten times or more the stretch has been dug up citing some or the other pipeline works," he said.
NMC garden superintendent Amol Chorpagar said action has been initiated against MahaMetro contractor for felling the tree.
Former Congress corporator Sandip Sahare alleged all government agencies are engaged in repairing roads, which are already in good condition, in parts of South-West and West Nagpur in the name of G20 summit. "I have not seen total asphalting of the road in last one decade. The condition of road from RBI square to Automotive Square was bad. MahaMetro started work of flyover-metro rail corridor and destroyed it further. Stretch between Dus Number Puliya and Automotive Square is also bad," Sahare said.
MahaMetro has stopped works of flyover-metro rail corridor after Mount Road T-point. Two sides of the road have become narrow and cause traffic congestion. The citizens are facing problems in evening and night due to lack of street lights.
The stretch after Mount Road T-point and Gurudwara has been asphalted to some extent few months ago. However, trenching has been done in many parts on this stretch.
MahaMetro spokesperson said the road has been handed over to NMC so the latter is responsible for asphalting the stretch.
Denying the claims of MahaMetro, NMC engineers say the road falls under the jurisdiction of NHAI. "MahaMetro has the road under it as work of flyover is yet to be completed. NMC has nothing to do with the road," they said.
NHAI official said Kamptee Road from RBI Square to Automotive Square is still under MahaMetro. "NMC is acquiring the space required for expansion of stretch between LIC Square and Mount Road T-point. MahaMetro is responsible for repairs till it hands over the stretch back to NHAI," he said.
In August and September last year, NMC had directed all government agencies to repair roads in their jurisdiction as soon as possible.