NMC skips Tarangan Apt while paying land compensation for Wardha Road widening

Nagpur: Strange are the ways of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). It had served notices for acquiring land of an apartment scheme on Wardha Road in Vivekanand Nagar in June 2019 but is yet to give the owners compensation.
The land is being acquired as the national highway division of public works department (PWD) will concretize the road from Rahate Colony Square to Khapri railway overbridge (ROB).The road besides the ramp of MahaMetro’s double decker flyover’s ramp would be widened under this project. MahaMetro had submitted a plan to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for widening the road. NHAI forwarded it to NMC. However, later union transport minister Nitin Gadkari asked PWD to do the job.
Manish Kadbe, a resident of Tarangan Apartment, said that all other land owners had been provided compensation by NMC in mid-2020. "However, the 12 residents of our apartment are yet to get it. NMC is acquiring 250 square feet open space in front of our building. We have met several NMC officials and written several letters but to no avail,” he told TOI.
Kadbe said he had met NMC’s former assistant director of town planning (ADTP) Pramod Gawande several times. Land acquisition for NMC is done by the town planning department.
"Gawande told us last year that NMC did not have money to pay compensation and hence the proposal had been sent to district collector Ravindra Thakare. However, in mid-January this year he told us NMC had received the required funds and we would get compensation soon. Over a month has passed but we are yet to get the money. Now, Gawande is transferred and the new officer is unaware of our case," said Kadbe.
The project affected person (PAP) further said that most residents of his apartment were senior citizens and were tired of running from pillar to post. "We had written to the municipal commissioner pointing out it was not possible for the affected flat owners to go to NMC repeatedly," he added.
According to him, former commissioner Tukaram Mundhe had almost sanctioned the compensation but then number of Covid cases increased and he became busy in controlling them. NMC Laxmi Nagar zone assistant commissioner Ganesh Rathod said he had no idea about the case.