Nagpur News.
Let’s take a look at the 12 major developments that bothered Nagpurites big time.
1. Narendra Nagar – Mangalwari overbridge opens
Though the railway overbridge (RoB) through Narendra Nagar linking the Ring road to Wardha road was completed since long but the Congress leader Marotrao Kumbhalker played hurdle in starting its operations as the RoB ends over the piece of land owned by him. He did not want to give up his property and took the matter to court. The Maharastra State Road Development Corporation, Public Works Department and City Survey Department were also acting slow on this front. Meanwhile Kumbhalkar’s petition was rejected in the court following which he agreed to give away his land to MSRDC. Finally the RoB was dedicated to the citizens on May 29, 2012.
2. Filthy city brings NMC Commissioner on street
The stray cattle menace on busy streets of Nagpur along with the prevailing uncleanliness became the serious cause of concern among Nagpurites this year. So much so that the NMC Commissioner Shyam Wardheney had to come out of his office chamber and inspect the spot situation. It was after that the drived to fine against those creating filth around their houses and business installation was re-initiated. Even an unprecedented move to fine the pet owners who get their dogs to poo on the streets found much appreciation. However the action need to be tightened to greater extent for better results.
3. Cable for Ram Jhula arrives Nagpur
The much talked about ambitious Ram Jhula project – the cable suspended railway overbridge from Poddareshwar Ram Mandir – faced many obstacles in its path of progression. While this delayed the project beyond expectations it also caused multifold increase in its cost. Finally some hope thrives in 2012 since the work began on January 25, 2006. The heavy duty cables for the project were eventually brought to the city and the concreting work picked up from December 2, 2012. Let’s hope for its completion next year.
4. Home Platform, New Base Kitchen at Nagpur Railway Station
The outgoing year also saw a couple of construction activities at Nagpur railway station. While the yesteryears steam locomotive was installed as display on the western side of the station, the work for constructing ultramodern and well equiped Home Platform on western gate also started. The Divisional Railway Manager Brijesh Dikshit also laid foundation stone for home platform on October 18, 2012. Central Railway General Manager Subodh Jain also inaugurated the renewed base kitchen on November 30, 2012.
5. 1200 crore for irrigation projects
The long pending irrigation projects in Nagpur and rest of Vidarbha and the prevailing irregularities in the same was echoed in the winter session of state assembly this year. Nagpur Today learnt that Vidarbha Development Corporation, a body responsible for executing works in the region, has about Rs 1200 crore of unspent fund meant for the irrigation projects in Vidarbha. While the white paper recommended to take this fund to projects outside Vidarbha, the hues and cries made over the issue led the Chief Minister to announce the formation of committee for spending the fund lying with VDC on the pending projects in Vidarbha. The committee would also decide upon whether VDC should be assigned the power to spend these funds or not.
6. Mahavitran to return excess money to consumers
The Zero Load Shedding (ZLS) scheme was started in Nagpur by Mahavitran, an authorized body for electricity distribution in the city. For this, surcharge was added in the electricity bills sent to the consumers around Nagpur. During the audit, it was exposed that Mahavitran imposed additional and undue charges on the consumers. The matter came to light when most of the consumers started complaining of excessive bills from Mahavitran. Finally, Mahavitran saw red in its face and agreed to return the excess amount to the consumers in phases.
7. Vijay Talkes RuB picks up construction
NMC has been constructing the railway bridge under the track between Vijay talkies and Anand talkies since long. The finishing year saw some development on this front. The NMC took to removing encroachments for speeding up the work. Now the underbridge is nearing completion.
8. Aerobridge at Nagpur Airport
In order to facilitate air passengers, an aerobridge was established at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport at Nagpur on September 11, 2011 but due to some technical glitch, it remained non-operational for the past 8 months. Now with the repair of the aerobridge’s apron, the aerobridge is now functional and serving the passengers.
9. RSTMNU rolls back fee hike
As the educational session for 2012-13 began, the Rashtra Sant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University secretly decided to hike the examination fees for its general courses by 10 percent and that of special courses by 20 percent. The decision led the enraged students unions to stage protests and demonstration. Consequently, the University management decided to hold back its decision for indefinite period. The move brought major relief to the students.
10. Steps to improvise quality of B.Ed
Every year the B.Ed stream is recording sharp decline in the number of students opting for the course while the Nagpur University went on to approve opening of more B.Ed colleges. As seats for the concerned course were increased, the quality of education touched its lowest. Following the series of reports exposed by a section of media in this regard, the Directorate for Higher Education decided to evaluate and inspect the B.Ed colleges on its level. The announcement to this effect was made by the Director, Higher Education Dr Gaikwad when he came to Nagpur for assembly session.
11. Trauma Center work picks up at GMC
The fund for establishing fully equipped trauma center at Nagpur Medical College and Hospital faced the green concern in its way of development. Actually 180 lush green trees needed to be cut down for moving ahead with the construction. This caused the deadlock between the medical administration and NMC, though the fund of Rs 10 crore was already deposited in the hospital’s account for executing the work. Finally under the special case, the NMC granted permission to fell the trees and work progressed without even taking up the formality of bhoomi pujan.
12. Dahi Bazar RuB gets land, work started
The traffic nuisance in Itwari Dahi Bazar has been bothering Nagpurites big time. The railway overbridge proposed by NMC to ease out the clogged traffic conditions in the area remained a far fetched dream for the railway’s reluctance to give its land for the project. Following a chain of media uproar over the issue, the NMC agreed to pay around Rs 3.57 crores against the acquisition of 1989 square metres of land from railway. With little amendment in NMC act, the officials managed to get the land. The railways sent the agreement letters to the NMC on December 7, 2012. Work on the project has already been started.
