The ambitious drive by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to resurface key tar roads across the city has hit a fresh obstacle, casting serious doubt on its completion deadline of December 31. The project was abruptly halted for two days following the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the upcoming civic elections, scheduled for January 15.
Confusion Over Election Norms Brings Work to a Standstill
The resurfacing works across Nagpur came to a sudden stop on December 15, immediately after the election code came into force. Operations at the civic body's hotmix plant were also shut down. The suspension was triggered when the hotmix department reported exhaustion of bitumen stock and raised concerns that procuring fresh material could potentially breach the MCC norms.
This led to significant confusion among senior NMC officials, who debated for two days whether continuing the road works and purchasing necessary materials would violate the election code. All repair activity remained suspended during this period, further slowing the already time-pressed project.
Municipal Commissioner Intervenes, Clarifies Rules
The issue escalated until Municipal Commissioner Abhijeet Chaudhari intervened. He reprimanded officials for misinterpreting the code of conduct. On Wednesday, Chaudhari provided a crucial clarification: since the road renovation works had received administrative approval back in October, they did not fall under the purview of MCC restrictions.
Following this clarification, the Commissioner ordered the immediate resumption of all works from Thursday. "Hotmix plant works had prior approval, and hence there is no question of stopping them due to the code of conduct. We are making all efforts to complete the remaining works at the earliest," stated Hotmix Department Executive Engineer Ajay Dahake.
Project Progress and Inevitable Deadline Extension
Despite the green signal, the two-day disruption has dealt a blow to the project's timeline, which was already running behind schedule due to earlier technical delays. The project, for which Rs 14.46 crore was sanctioned by the Municipal Commissioner, aims to repair 260 roads damaged by heavy monsoon rains.
As of now, work on only 55 roads covering approximately 15 kilometres has been completed. This work is largely concentrated in four zones. The NMC has deployed two teams to cover all ten zones:
- Team One: Covers Dhantoli, Ashi Nagar, Mangalwari, Laxmi Nagar, and Dharampeth zones. Progress is uneven, with about 60% work done in Laxmi Nagar, but Mangalwari and Dharampeth severely affected by concurrent sewer and drainage projects.
- Team Two: Assigned to Gandhibagh, Hanuman Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Satranjipura, and Lakadganj zones. Work is complete in four of these zones, with Nehru Nagar pending.
Officials have admitted to several persistent bottlenecks:
- Lack of working space and poor inter-departmental coordination.
- Freshly dug roads for utility works not being restored, blocking resurfacing.
- Repeated digging of newly repaired stretches disrupting the planned sequence.
The project had earlier faced setbacks due to an outdated Common Schedule of Rates (CSR), especially for labour costs, which was later revised to match market rates. With the combined impact of these delays and the recent MCC-related halt, civic sources now concede that extending the December 31 deadline has become almost inevitable.
For Nagpur's residents, this means continued inconvenience and travel on damaged roads. With election-related restrictions now active and logistical challenges persisting, the prospect of all repairs concluding by the year-end appears increasingly unlikely.
