Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) have launched a joint anti-encroachment drive along the Zingabai Takli-Godhani road after a fatal crash claimed two lives in 34 days and renewed concerns over the narrowing of the four-kilometre route.
The operation began within hours of Tuesday’s accident, in which 31-year-old Ashwini Phalke was crushed by a gravel-laden truck. According to the report, Phalke pushed her six-year-old son, Advik, out of the truck’s path before she was killed. Advik remains in a private hospital, while her husband, Pankaj, sustained serious injuries.
NMC’s Mangalwari zone continued the first phase of the drive until 1.30am. Two teams led by encroachment removal department assistant commissioner Sanjay Kamble and chief engineer Leena Upadhye demolished seven sheds, including one associated with Garva Biryani Centre on the Zingabai Takli-Godhani stretch. The operation resumed on Wednesday afternoon, when two NMC teams and an NIT team returned to the road.
More than 25 additional sheds were identified for demolition, although several shopkeepers requested a day to remove their extensions voluntarily. The civic administration has since formed three enforcement teams to intensify action along the stretch. Municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar directed Mangalwari zone assistant municipal commissioner Ashok Gharate to coordinate with NIT on the removal of illegal extensions.
Itankar told the Times of India that a meeting would be held to examine the road’s geometry and alignment and identify deviations. “Wherever it has gone wrong, we will rectify it,” he said.
The enforcement action has also brought renewed attention to the sanctioned width of the Zingabai Takli-Godhani-Bokara-Koradi road, identified as MDR-143. The route was approved for widening from nine metres to 18 metres under a Central Road Fund allocation of about Rs35 crore sanctioned in 2017. The Rs35.74-crore project has been completed, but the sanctioned width was allegedly not maintained at several points during construction, according to the report. Subsequent encroachments further reduced the available carriageway.
Residents and local representatives said they had repeatedly raised concerns about illegal extensions, varying road widths and the movement of heavy vehicles. Congress corporator Snehal Thakre alleged that the road alignment had been altered by around 20 feet to accommodate commercial establishments. She also alleged that earlier enforcement drives were ineffective because shopkeepers were alerted before teams arrived.
The accident has exposed overlapping enforcement and design issues on a road used by heavy vehicles. Residents cited shops and houses extending into public space, commercial activity spilling onto the carriageway and incomplete NIT construction work as sources of obstruction. They have sought measurement of the entire road against the sanctioned 18-metre width, removal of encroachments and stricter enforcement of heavy-vehicle restrictions.
Mankapur police have registered cases of culpable homicide and rash driving against truck driver Shaikh Jamil Sheikh Salam, 45, of Deshraj Nagar near Gausia Masjid in Gittikhadan. Police said he was driving at high speed despite restrictions on heavy-vehicle entry. NMC and NIT’s next steps are to review the road alignment and continue the joint enforcement operation along the affected stretch.
