New Khapri ROB to be complete by mid-Sept

Nagpur: After months of delay, the new railway overbridge (ROB) at Khapri is finally nearing completion. The portion over Nagpur-Wardha railway line has finally been laid and now concreting is going on. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set a date of September 15 for its completion, according to project officer Abhijit Jichkar.
There is good news for residents of Pardi too.Shekhar Ghadge, sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Nagpur, has promised to pass the award for acquiring about 3,500 square metre land needed for Pardi flyover this week. NHAI has set a deadline of June 2021 for the structure.
The Khapri ROB was slated to be ready in March 2019, but got delayed due to several reasons. In 2020, the NHAI faced difficulties in meeting the simultaneous requirements of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Central Railway (CR).
The project got stuck after its initial launch scheme was rejected by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) and hence a new scheme was initiated wherein girders were split to lower the weight.
NHAI split the 55-metre-long girder into two — having 33m and 22m span. Another problem for the NHAI contractor was striking balance between AAI and CR operations. Khapri area falls near the runway of Nagpur airport and as per flight schedule, the AAI could provide slot from 1.30pm to 3.30pm to enable launching of girders and the railways also stopping train movement in the section during the period was a difficult job.
The disruption in train services due to Covid-19 concerns provided a much-needed breather and CR readily provided an 18-day block in Khapri section enabling execution of the two works simultaneously.
Pardi flyover project officer NL Yeotkar said now all hurdles in the way of the project have been removed and work would go ahead in full swing.
Bhoomipuja for the flyover was performed in August 2014 and it was expected to be complete by 2017 end. However, it was dogged by problems right from the beginning, land acquisition being the major one. After land owners refused to part their land through negotiations with NHAI, the latter had to go for compulsory acquisition.