Gadkari Allots Rs30 Crore More For Besa-Pipla Road

Nagpur: The Besa-Pipla area received a major infrastructure boost with revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule announcing additional Rs30 crore for the under-construction Besa-Pipla road. Speaking at the swearing-in of the first-ever council body of the Besa Pipla Nagar Panchayat on Monday, Bawankule said that Union minister Nitin Gadkari has allocated funds for the road, which may now be extended to Outer Ring Road. TOI had run a series of reports on the deadly condition of the road, which claimed the life of 72-year-old Rangrao Patil in November last year. Bawankule also announced Rs18cr for another road from Atharva Nagri to Besa Square. The state, he added, has already commissioned construction of an underground drain network worth Rs195cr in the area.The Kamptee MLA, under whose constituency Besa-Pipla falls, said BJP faced challenges in accommodating all aspirants during the recent elections, especially senior leaders. "I sincerely apologise to them. We will certainly accommodate them in the future."Explaining the party's strategy in Besa, the minister said that in the Zilla Parishad elections, Kirti Badole had lost by a narrow margin. With the president's post for the nagar panchayat getting reserved for an SC woman, the party decided to field her in the recent local body polls. He said elected representatives must keep their office open for at least three hours daily and organise a Janta Darbar every Sunday.The minister reiterated his commitment to providing property cards for every house in Besa, a promise he said would be fulfilled through a drone-based survey. While the usual mapping cost is around Rs4,000 per plot, he assured residents that the exercise would be conducted free of charge.Referring to the Gondwana Gantantra Party's win in Butibori polls, he said one of their leaders had temporarily switched sides but is likely to return. Calling the Kamptee Municipal Council victory historic, the minister said the party had won the civic body after several decades, despite earlier defeats by large margins. He recalled that even during the Assembly elections, he had trailed by nearly 18,000 votes in Kamptee town.Highlighting Besa's transformation, he recalled that in 1995 it was merely a village with no basic amenities. With the gradual development of housing societies, the area expanded despite initial challenges such as the absence of water supply and electricity. He credited former guardian minister Nitin Gadkari and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for bringing Besa under NMRDA in 2014 and converting it from an agricultural to a residential zone, thereby legalising existing houses. When NMRDA regularisation proved costly, the area was made a Nagar Panchayat to ease norms.# Savarkar highlights rapid development of areaFormer MLA Tekchand Savarkar, under whose tenure Besa-Pipla was elevated to a nagar panchayat, highlighted infrastructure achievements, describing the newly developed 12-metre DP road to Velahari was built without govt funding and has significantly boosted land values in the surrounding area. Savarkar said that the rapid development witnessed over the past three years was the result of the collective effort by party workers across levels.Taking a dig at Congress, Savarkar said the party lacks long-term vision, and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis, Gadkari and Bawankule for making Nagpur one of India's fastest-developing and most innovative cities. Savarkar said he has been associated with the BJP for over three decades and will continue to serve the party in any role assigned. He also, on a lighter note quipped that there had been an initial tussle between him and a senior leader over who should be appointed the first administrator of Besa–Pipla, a matter that was eventually resolved after he asked for an intervention by CM Fadnavis.