Nagpur flyover row: Family starts demolishing balcony amid NHAI-NMC blame game

“The issue received so much media attention that we felt it was better to take decisive action. The controversy was causing us trouble, and whatever the initial confusion was, we just wanted to put the matter behind us. Initially, we had no concerns since the property only faced a road, but now that a flyover is being built, it presents a clear safety risk,” A member of the Patre family told The Indian Express

The family member said they have decided to demolish the balcony and the section beneath it, and shift their shops a little further inside the building.

The 8.90-km Indora Chowk–Dighori Chowk elevated corridor on NH-353D, executed by NHAI, is one of the city’s most ambitious highway projects. But despite a detailed design process and months of groundwork, a beam was constructed through a residential balcony flagged for encroachment months earlier.

The family member said they have decided to demolish the balcony and the section beneath it, and shift their shops a little further inside the building. (Express Photo by Dhananjay Khedkar)

A video of the flyover beam slicing through the balcony of the house recently went viral, triggering a debate over urban planning, encroachment, and infrastructure oversight. It forced the NMC to send a notice and initiate a check on the illegality of the home construction, even as the NHAI stated that it had flagged the issue to the civic body almost a year ago.

A letter dated October 11, 2024, from the NHAI Project Director to NMC’s Gandhibagh Zone explicitly mentioned that “2–3 shops, specifically Patre Cycle Shop, are obstructing the area required for the rotary’s outer beam.” The letter requested NMC to verify and clear the site to ensure safety and prevent construction delays.

However, later the NMC officials flagged that the land was allotted under the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), leading to a clarification by NIT officials that the land was formally transferred to NMC in 2003.

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