Bizarre sight in Nagpur: Ashok Chowk elevated rotary 'cuts' through house balcony; NHAI claims encroachment

NAGPUR: A bizarre sight at Ashok Chowk has left commuters scratching their heads — the outer ring of the under-construction elevated rotary at the junction, part of the Rs 998 crore Indora-Dighori flyover project, literally slices through the balcony of a house. While photographs and videos of the spot have gone viral, sparking criticism of "faulty planning", civic officials clarified that the house was built illegally without a building sanction plan from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). But no action has been initiated against the unauthorized construction of the house.The house is situated at the corner of the road leading to Sakkardara. Commuters and passers-by stop at the spot wondering what led to the construction of such a "bizarre structure". TOI on Thursday visited the spot to check ground reality. On digging deeper, it came to fore that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which is executing the flyover project, had written to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for removing the encroachment.According to a senior NHAI official, they encountered the "encroachment" during the construction stage and raised the issue with NMC. "We found that the owner of the house has extended the balcony and wrote to NMC for removing the encroachment," the official said.According to a source in NHAI, the contractor and the house owner came to an agreement to build the rotary through the balcony. "The owner did not register any opposition, which is why NHAI was able to build the structure," said the source.Assistant municipal commissioner of Hanuman Nagar zone, Narendra Bawankar, admitted that NHAI had approached the civic body with the issue. "Our inquiry revealed that the house, which falls under Prabhag number 31, was constructed without securing building sanction plan from NMC's town planning department. The owner too admitted that he did not possess any building sanction plan. The owner was not eligible for compensation in absence of sanction map. Even to date, he has not applied for the same," Bawankar said. When TOI approached shopkeepers operating their establishments from the ground floor of the house, they declined to comment. A local trader in the vicinity said that doubts had creeped in from the very beginning. "We wondered how can NHAI build such a structure. Once the flyover is constructed and vehicles start moving on the rotary, will it not damage the house and lead to an accident?" he asked.