Nagpur: Taking cognisance of the suffering of residents in Ramdaspeth, Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar ordered closure of Canal Road. He has also taken initiative and called a meeting of all stakeholders on October 9 to find a solution to problems listed by the residents.
The people have organised themselves under the banner of Ramdaspeth Residents Welfare Association and they met with the Commissioner of Police fed-up with inaction on part of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) authorities. The people in Ramdaspeth have been facing numerous trouble ever since the parapet wall of a nullah near Shriram Bhavan collapsed during monsoon season. NMC closed the road stretch for traffic and took up construction of a new bridge and since then problems of residents in one of the posh locality in the centre of the city got compounded.
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Since then it has been a daily battle for citizens as vehicular traffic got diverted to inner lanes. Apart from traffic snarls, the daily jams further increased the problem for citizens as the small lanes could not handle the volume of traffic. The peaceful locality got converted into a chaotic market place, with traffic snarls, daily street fights owing to jams and much more, said a resident, a sufferer. He said they met with officials of NMC and Traffic Control Branch numerous times to stop movement of heavy vehicles from inside Ramdaspeth locality but no one responded.
Finally, on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, the NMC re-barricaded the opening to Ramdaspeth Canal Road opposite Central Mall. The residents told the city police boss that their safety has been compromised as hundreds of vehicles are passing day and night through the narrow streets of Ramdaspeth. Many old buildings are being demolished and several high-rise buildings are now under construction due to which citizens are already suffering untold miseries as air and noise pollution caused by trucks full of sand, ballast, construction demolition waste, ready mix concrete trucks passing throughout day and night.
Heavy traffic movement is causing high vibrations which are damaging the buildings. Scrap traders have set up their shops on narrow roads and bylanes which is further compounding the problems. The number of ambulances plying with loud sirens is disturbing peace and creating panic amongst small children. The air pollution levels increased many folds, citizens have to inhale suspended dust, oxides of Nitrogen, Sulphur dioxide, lead and heavy metals, volatile hydrocarbon compounds etc.
The Commissioner of Police called officials of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), NMC, PWD and issued instructions to concerned officials to visit Ramdaspeth, submit reports and ensure decongestion of by-lanes. He also discussed the matter with Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Dr Abhijeet Chaudhari and scheduled a meeting for Monday in which all concerned officials of different departments, contractor of Ramdaspeth Bridge, MLA Vikas Thakre, Honorary Secretary at Camp Office of Deputy Chief Minister Sandip Joshi, members of Ramdaspeth Residents Welfare Association are invited. The Ramdaspeth Residents Welfare Association was represented by Pawan Sarda, Rahul Dalmiya, Amit Gupta and others.
