Nagpur's third outer ring road: NMRDA begins DPR work on 173-km Golden Ring Road
NMRDA has started feasibility and DPR work on Nagpur's 173-km third outer ring road, planned as an economic corridor under CM Devendra Fadnavis.
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The Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority has sped up work on the city's proposed third outer ring road, a 173-kilometre stretch being called the "Golden Ring Road" and seen as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's dream project.
NMRDA has begun the feasibility study and detailed project report process for the road, and is expected to soon appoint a consultant agency to prepare the full roadmap.
Under the plan, the road is meant to be not just a bypass but a revenue-generating "economic corridor." A dedicated utility corridor will run within the median and right of way, with separate space for gas pipelines, water mains, power transmission cables and telecom companies' optical fibre cables. This space will be leased or rented long-term to government and private companies, which NMRDA expects will bring it regular income. The corridor also envisages solar panels and wind turbines to generate clean power for commercial use.
Rather than relying only on toll revenue, the plan calls for 8 nodal development pockets, or commercial hubs, along the 173-kilometre route. These will include IT and infotech parks, logistics and warehousing parks, industrial nodes, agro-processing hubs, a health and medical city, an education hub, resorts and smart city nodes. Wayside amenities are also planned every 50 kilometres, including petrol, diesel and EV charging stations, food plazas, motels, rest areas and emergency trauma centres.
To cut down queues at toll plazas, the plan is to use an RFID-based toll system along with queuing theory. Weigh-in-motion technology will also be installed to catch overloaded vehicles. The system is expected to let vehicles clear toll booths without stopping, in about 4 seconds on average.
For the topographic survey, high-accuracy aerial LiDAR technology will be used instead of ordinary drones. Laser scanners mounted under a plane or helicopter will create a 3D digital map of the entire 173-kilometre route.
The third outer ring road will also have logistics and transport parks along with truck lay-bys. Heavy vehicles coming from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jabalpur and Amravati will be able to head straight to their destination without entering the city, which is expected to reduce the load, accidents and pollution caused by heavy vehicles within Nagpur.
The project's full blueprint is being prepared under the guidance of NMRDA commissioner Sanjay Meena.
