Deadline Missed, Besa–Pipla ‘Death Road’ Remains a Hazard Amid Delays | Nagpur News

Nagpur: The much-anticipated concretisation of Besa-Pipla Road has missed its mid-March deadline, prolonging commuter woes and raising serious safety concerns along the busy stretch. The project, initially scheduled for completion between February and March, remains incomplete, with officials now pushing the revised deadline to the end of April. The road has increasingly gained notoriety as a ‘killer road’ following a fatal accident involving 72-year-old Rangrao Patil. The uneven surfaces, and ongoing construction activity have made the stretch highly accident-prone, with near-misses taking place everday. Daily commuters complain that the delay have significantly increased travel time while exposing them to constant risk. “I’ve personally witnessed multiple near-miss accidents on this road in the past few weeks. The lanes are unclear due to construction, and during peak hours, vehicles get stuck in long queues, increasing frustration and risky driving,” said Madan Sahajwani, a local grocer. Despite the infusion of additional funds, including support under Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s Central Road Fund, progress on the ground has been slow. According to a senior source from the Public Works Department (PWD), only one side of the road is nearing completion, while work on the other side remains pending. “Barely 10 to 20 metres of work is left on one side, but the March deadline could not be met due to fund constraints that temporarily halted the project. The curing process is complete, and only paving block laying remains on that stretch,” the official said. The source added that both sides of the road are now expected to be fully concretised by the end of April, provided there are no further interruptions. The project’s scope has also been slightly expanded. Initially planned as an 1,150-metre stretch, it has now been extended to approximately 1,240 metres. Officials clarified that such an extension falls within the permissible 20% increase allowed under the powers of executive and chief engineers. Meanwhile, the second phase of the project — covering the stretch up to Pipla Fata awaits technical sanction (TS) approval at the chief engineer (CE) level. The proposed Rs30 crore allocation under the Central Road Fund will be utilised for this phase. “Scrutiny is currently underway at the CE office. We expect the tendering process to begin by the second week of April, with work likely to commence in the first week of May,” the official said, adding that they hope to complete the basic foundation laying work of the second phase before monsoon.