Nagpur's Indora-Dighori Flyover Opens, Cutting Travel Time to 15 Minutes

The Indora Chowk-Dighori Flyover in Nagpur was inaugurated on Saturday, with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis present at the event. The roughly 8.9-kilometre corridor runs along National Highway 353D and links the northern and southern sections of the city.

Speaking at the inauguration, Gadkari said the flyover has been built using Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) technology. The material allowed longer spans between successive piers using a single pair of structural segments, cutting the number of supports needed and speeding up construction. He said the Indora-Dighori trip, which earlier took about an hour by road, can now be covered in 10 to 15 minutes. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) executed the project at a cost of approximately ₹1,000 crore.

Gadkari said the corridor connects five directions at Ashok Square, where an Ashoka Pillar has been installed along with Constitution-themed murals and illumination. He added that the project has not changed the names of any existing roads. Ramps have come up at Daga Hospital, Reshimbagh Chowk and Bada Tajbagh, which are expected to ease congestion in densely populated areas such as Gandhibagh and Pachpaoli. At Agrasen Chowk, an elevated passage over the Metro corridor is intended to allow multi-lane movement on the lines of Wardha Road and Kamptee Road.

At a public programme at Kavivarya Suresh Bhat Auditorium after the inauguration, Fadnavis announced that the flyover would be named after Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founding Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, to mark the organisation's centenary year.

The Chief Minister said Nagpur is on course to become an international-standard city, helped by environment-friendly projects. He pointed to a 148-kilometre Golden Arch Ring Road being developed around Nagpur to support the city's expansion, and said the city currently has 35 flyovers with 15 more proposed. A 'New Nagpur' is being developed with a Centre for Business District as an investment hub, he said, adding that land acquisition is under way and the area is expected to create employment for young people.

Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the flyover would benefit not just the northern and southern parts of the city but also improve connectivity to Nagpur rural areas including Hudkeshwar, Narsala, Besa and Pipala.

Gadkari and Fadnavis inspected the Ashoka Pillar and the illumination at Ashok Chowk during the programme. Officials of NHAI and representatives of the project contractor, NCC Limited (Nagarjuna Construction Company), were felicitated. South Nagpur MLA Mohan Mate and Central Nagpur MLA Pravin Datke also addressed the gathering, which was attended by local public representatives, Nagpur Municipal Corporation corporators and a large number of citizens.