After HC reprimand, Centre vows to revamp Fetri Road

Nagpur: Following a warning from the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court regarding the denotification of the Nagpur to Fetri road on the national highway, the Government of India assured it on Thursday that the stretch would be repaired and expanded within a specific timeframe.
Deputy solicitor general of India (DGSI), Nandesh Deshpande, submitted that even if the stretch is denotified, its condition would be improved if the proposal is received from NHAI as a one-time measure.

NHAI counsel Aneesh Kathane, on instructions from the project director, informed that a proposal for the improvement of the Nagpur-Fetri stretch up to the outer ring road, including the construction of a flyover, shall be submitted to the central government for approval within three weeks.
Earlier, Deshpande informed that once such a proposal is received from NHAI, the decision shall be taken as per the GR of April 23, 2015, and it would be placed on record by June 10.
While accepting the statements made by the petitioners and respondents, a division bench comprising Justices Nitin Sambre and Abhay Mantri deferred the hearing till June 12.
The HC was hearing a PIL (No 22/2019) filed by lawyer Arun Patil through counsel Firdos Mirza, highlighting the deplorable condition of the Amravati-Akola-Jalgaon Road and Wardha-Sindkhed Raja Road, which had led to numerous major accidents and loss of lives.
On Wednesday, the judges censured the NHAI, observing that it failed short of reasons to understand its hasty decision in denotifying the Nagpur to Fetri stretch and filing an affidavit that lacked substance.
“We are contemplating whether the conduct of the Union of India is contemptuous. However, a joint request came from DSGI and NHAI counsel that the hearing of the matter be deferred to enable them to make a statement on the decision which they are likely to take about the one-time improvement to the denotified stretch. The improvement included increasing the width of the road before handing it over to the local or state authorities,” the judges said.