Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Thursday asked National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to submit its Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the 100-year-old Ajni Railway Overbridge (RoB), so it can approach the government for funds to replace the dilapidated structure, a report in a local media said.
The report said that the Municipal Commissioner Radhakrishnan B on Thursday chaired a review meeting with NHAI, Railways, NMC Public Works Department, and MSRDC officials over the bridge, which connects south and west Nagpur. According to a senior NMC official, the NHAI had included the replacement of the railway bridge in its InterModal Station (IMS) project. However, as the IMS project hit a roadblock due to protest from environmental activists, the NHAI put the project on hold.
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Notably, the local media has been highlighting that the RoB has been buttressed by steel pillars at some places but small pieces of debris routinely fall whenever heavy vehicles pass over the bridge. NMC had banned movement of heavy vehicles and installed barricades on the bridge. Even during non-peak hours, roads connecting to the RoB regularly witness traffic jams. The deployment of traffic police personnel has failed to ease congestion.
NHAI was supposed to replace the existing RoB with a four-lane bridge. Today, the road over the bridge is in a very bad shape. Repair of potholes has turned the ride on this particular patch bumpy. The Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) had conducted a study of the bridge and suggested some immediate measures.
As per NHAI’s previous DPR, the cost of the project was estimated at Rs 175 crore. After NHAI submits its DPR, NMC will review it and approach the government for required funds, said a senior official from NMC’s Public Works Department.
