Ganeshotsav nears but potholes still plague Nagpur roads, NMC claims fall short
With Ganeshotsav days away, potholes on key Nagpur routes used for immersion processions remain unfilled despite NMC's claims of ongoing repair work
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With only a few days left for Ganeshotsav, potholes across Nagpur's roads are exposing the gap between the Nagpur Municipal Corporation's claims and ground reality. While the civic body publicises the construction of large flyovers and roads, several main routes show motorists more potholes than road surface.
The biggest worry is over the routes that Ganesh idols will be carried on and where public Ganesh mandals will take out processions. In the rainy season, potholes fill with water, making it impossible to gauge their depth, which raises the risk further for those riding bikes and scooters.
North Nagpur is the worst affected. Motorists face daily trouble because of large potholes in areas such as Kamal Chowk, Panchpaoli Road, Pardi flyover, the Umiya Dham factory area, Teka Naka, Indora Chowk, Jaripatka and Kanji House. Idols from several public Ganesh mandals starting out from Nagpur's Chitar Oli are carried through these very roads to reach North Nagpur. The Kanji House area also has several shops selling Ganesh idols, so the poor road condition and deep potholes are adding to concerns about safely transporting the idols.
The stretch from Lohapul towards Sitabuldi has turned into an accident spot. Large potholes near Mata Mandir pose a risk of accidents and are also causing repeated traffic jams. Processions of the Modi Number 2 and 3 Ganesh mandals also pass through this road.
Local residents say motorists have to swerve suddenly to avoid potholes, which keeps the risk of accidents alive. They have demanded that, given Ganeshotsav, the large potholes at least be filled immediately with gravel as a stopgap.
The municipal corporation administration says pothole-filling work has not stopped and is continuing steadily, with modern machines such as jet patchers also being used. Despite this, potholes remain unchanged on several main roads.
The question now is whether the administration can fix these roads before Ganeshotsav begins. Filling the potholes in time is necessary to ensure the safe movement of devotees and Ganesh mandals.
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