Nagpur: The Shaheed Gowari Flyover in Nagpur has once again become the stage for a costly experiment. After three failed attempts and lakhs of rupees wasted, the Public Works Department’s World Bank Division is preparing to spend another Rs 13.94 lakh on installing horizontal beam height barriers at the flyover’s entry points.
The barriers are meant to keep heavy vehicles off the elevated road and safeguard the structure. But history shows otherwise, each installation over the last three years has ended in disaster. Trucks and buses have repeatedly smashed into the beams, twisting them into dangerous obstacles and forcing officials to dismantle the wreckage within weeks, sometimes days.
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In 2025, steel barriers were pitched as the “permanent solution.” Within just three nights, seven accidents were reported. Poor visibility at night turned the beams into hidden traps, until mangled frames had to be removed in under a week. A year earlier, barriers worth nearly Rs 10 lakh were destroyed within a month. And in 2023, the first attempt collapsed even faster.
What angers commuters is not just the repeated waste of public money but the sheer lack of foresight. None of the barriers came with reflective paint, adequate signage, or proper lighting. Without these basics, drivers had no chance to react in time. “A barrier without warnings is just an accident trap,” said one exasperated commuter.
Officials now speak of adding LED strips, reflective coatings, and better signboards to the new design. But for citizens, faith is running thin. Every promise so far has ended the same way, twisted metal, wasted lakhs, and mounting risks.
The fresh Rs 13.94 lakh plan has reignited a burning question: Will this finally stop heavy vehicles from storming onto the Gowari Flyover, or will it simply join the city’s growing list of failed infrastructure fixes?
For now, the flyover stands less as a symbol of progress and more as a cautionary tale of what happens when planning, design, and enforcement fail to meet on the ground.
