top of page
Search

Maharajbagh Road in Nagpur Dug and Rebuilt Repeatedly Over 10 Years

Maharajbagh Road in Nagpur Dug and Rebuilt Repeatedly Over 10 Years
Maharajbagh Road in Nagpur Dug and Rebuilt Repeatedly Over 10 Years

The road between Library Square and Maharajbagh Square in Vidarbha's Nagpur has remained under construction in some form or another since the early 2000s.


As traffic moves inch by inch beside barricades and trenches, what should have been a functional link in the city’s centre has become an example of prolonged and repeated disruption.


Whether widened, cemented, or dug up for cables, Maharajbagh Road has not seen lasting completion. Each reconstruction effort has brought along costs, delays, and inconvenience, often overlapping with previous projects.


The frequency of excavation and resurfacing has raised not just eyebrows but also the financial burden on public funds.



Projects, delays, and backtracks


The first major intervention on Maharajbagh Road began in 2015. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation sanctioned the road for expansion under the city’s Development Plan.


It involved widening the 800-metre stretch from 12 to 24 metres, constructing footpaths, and laying down a new cement road. The approved budget was approximately ₹4.74 crore.

Completion was scheduled for March 2016, but resistance from Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth delayed land handover. The opposition came from students and alumni concerned about heritage and ecological impact, especially near the zoo.


Despite these objections, initial work commenced but soon ran into further hurdles. The contractor failed to maintain progress, and by November 2016, less than half the stretch had been concretised.


Bridge sections, pipelines, and internal nullahs needed redesigns mid-project. The completion deadline was extended, but progress remained slow, with civic records showing no payments made to the contractor due to performance issues.


By early 2018, the stretch between Library Square and Maharajbagh Square was finally complete. Cement roads and footpaths were in place. However, within months, fresh digging began.


In November that year, MahaMetro initiated underground cable work for its network. This required the removal of tiles from the newly constructed footpaths and drilling through portions of the new cement road. Citizens expressed anger at the duplication of work.


The Lokmat newspaper called out the waste of public money, reporting that roads completed under government funds were being dismantled within the same year.


Further work was sanctioned again in 2023 under Phase III of the cement road project. This project, led by the Public Works Department, covered three stretches, including Maharajbagh Road. The total package was valued at ₹27 crore.


The plan covered the length from the old VCA stadium to Akashvani Square, passing through Library Square and Maharajbagh Square. This included new footpaths, cycle lanes, and upgraded drains. The initial completion deadline was March 2024.


Delays emerged once again due to the monsoon, traffic regulations near the Legislative Assembly, and overlapping departmental work. As of early 2024, one carriageway had been completed.


When work began on the other side, workers encountered an underground smart city fibre cable that had not been accounted for in the planning phase. This forced another round of planning and temporary halts. By May 2025, the work remained unfinished.


Costs that keep adding up

Unfinished Maharajbaug Road in Nagpur
Unfinished Maharajbaug Road in Nagpur

The ₹4.74 crore sanctioned in 2015 did not include subsequent damage and repair costs caused by later projects. There is no official estimate for the cost of the cable-related re-digging in 2018, but several newspaper reports and citizen statements described the situation as wasteful.


By the time the Phase III works began in 2023, funds from that year’s ₹27 crore budget had already been earmarked for stretches that had previously seen major investment.

Reports noted that the absence of ducting infrastructure for utilities meant that new installations required fresh digging.


No consolidated utility corridor was built in earlier phases, which meant every cable, pipeline, or fibre line required the surface to be broken again.


Construction audits have shown that such repeated work can raise final costs by up to 30 percent, though Nagpur-specific data remains limited.



In the case of Maharajbagh Road, the same zones have been excavated and repaired at least three times over ten years, often with overlapping budgets and little inter-departmental coordination.

In several reports, civic groups pointed to poor monitoring. Payments were withheld, but the lack of enforcement mechanisms allowed slow-moving contractors to reappear in new phases. In 2016, allegations were also made regarding the selection of firms without public tenders. Though these were not pursued legally, they added to public mistrust.


A road commuters cannot rely on

For road users, the impact has been consistent over the years. Each time one half of the road is dug up, all traffic is diverted to the other side. With two-way movement compressed into one lane, jams become routine.


In April 2025, concrete mixers working in the middle of the road completely blocked one lane, forcing vehicles to reverse and reroute. Commuters reported that peak hour congestion now extends from Library Square up to Rani Jhansi and Panchasheel junctions.

In 2016, before the cement road was finished, several two-wheeler riders were injured when stones from loosely packed gravel hit them while passing the zoo gate. A security guard from the area reported frequent minor injuries and falls.


By 2025, similar risks remained on the incomplete side of the road, which had open trenches and construction debris. Residents noted that at night, the absence of warning signs and damaged barricades turned the road into a hazard zone.


Despite orders from the Bombay High Court requiring all roadwork sites to have clear signage and barricading, these rules were inconsistently applied. Barricades were often left broken or were not reflective.


No temporary lighting was installed. Some residents filed complaints through local ward offices, but no action was recorded in public reports.


Multiple construction phases also affected pedestrians. In areas where footpaths were removed for fibre work, there were no alternate walking paths. People had to walk on the road beside moving traffic or jump over piles of sand and rubble. During the MahaMetro digging phase, entire sections of the footpath remained open for months.

Local newspapers and civic groups raised repeated concerns over the lack of planning. They criticised the failure to coordinate work among various departments.


One editorial in 2025 described the road as “a stretch that never gets finished,” pointing out that while money continued to be spent, no phase of the road ever stayed untouched for long. Civic forums noted that no accountability was established even after repeated overhauls.


In a decade, Maharajbagh Road has undergone widening, concrete resurfacing, footpath installation, fibre cable trenching, and a second round of full-length cementing.


Each time, it has been declared complete. And each time, within months or years, it has been broken again for a new layer of work.

With more cables, ducts, and surface features being added under current smart city guidelines, the same pattern risks repeating.


As of May 2025, only one side of the road is usable. The other remains dug up. Cycle lanes and footpaths remain half-built. Residents continue to share concerns about congestion, risks, and delays. Authorities have expressed confidence in completing the work soon, though no new deadline has been confirmed.


Maharajbagh Road has been dug and rebuilt at least three times within ten years. Each instance involved financial cost, civic coordination failures, and regular inconvenience to thousands of daily commuters.


While new infrastructure continues to be laid, the completion of this road remains a moving target, just out of reach, just like before.



References




bottom of page