Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) may boast of a Rs 14.46 crore master plan to resurface 260 roads, but the ground reality exposes a scandalous apathy. Despite Commissioner Abhijeet Chaudhari’s clear directives in July to submit proposals for resurfacing the city’s worst battered tar roads, the majority of zone offices have brazenly ignored the order, leaving citizens to suffer broken, pothole-ridden stretches.
Out of NMC’s 10 zones, only five have bothered to respond, and even then, their submissions are laughably inadequate. Dhantoli zone, for instance, has 18 roads in the “worst-hit” category but has sought repairs for just one. Mangalwari, with 26 battered stretches, and Ashi Nagar, with 18, have each pushed forward just one proposal. Lakadganj, despite having eight crumbling roads, also submitted only one. In sharp contrast, Dharampeth, with five severely damaged roads, has at least proposed resurfacing all five.
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13 Oct 2025
But the glaring dereliction is from major zones, Laxmi Nagar, Hanuman Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Gandhibagh, and Satranjipura, which together account for more than 75 of the city’s worst-hit stretches. Shockingly, not a single proposal has come from these zones, raising serious questions about the intent of officials.
The neglect is not just bureaucratic laziness, it reeks of deliberate sabotage. Sources within NMC allege that certain officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) are deliberately sitting on road repair proposals, hoping the work is diverted to private contractors. Meanwhile, citizens continue to pay the price — literally in taxes, and physically while navigating death-trap roads.
Adding to the chaos is the fragmented ownership of city roads. Agencies like PWD, NIT, and MSRDC, apart from NMC, have utterly failed in their duty, with tar roads across Nagpur disintegrating into potholes and craters. For daily commuters, every journey has turned into a gamble with life and limb.
The urgency cannot be overstated. Chaudhari had categorically said proposals were crucial for scheduling repairs through upgraded hotmix plants after the monsoon. The plan itself prioritises 135 roads with over 50% deterioration (60 km), followed by 87 roads in the second category (38 km) and 38 roads in the third (22 km). Yet, with zone offices dragging their feet, the entire scheme is already floundering before takeoff.
The frustration of citizens is boiling over. A Narendra Nagar resident summed it up bluntly: “The stretch connecting Narendra Nagar to Manish Nagar is a nightmare of potholes and uneven patches. Taxpayers are being robbed, yet smooth roads remain a distant dream.”
Nagpur’s road crisis is no longer just a question of potholes, it is an indictment of official negligence, wilful sabotage, and a complete collapse of accountability.
