Nagpur: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said the heart of Nagpur – referring to central and east Nagpur – has major cholesterol blockage, blaming illegal buildings, encroachments and the lack of parking for the choking roads.Gadkari said, “Just as a blockage sometimes forms in the heart, the heart of the city too has a blockage, and it is a 90% blockage. It needs bypass surgery. If we do the surgery, life will be saved, and if we do not, it will mean death.”He said unplanned construction was the root cause of the problem. Gadkari said, “Buildings have come up in every lane, all illegal, with no parking. In Itwari, Gandhibagh and Mahal, if someone has a heart attack, even an ambulance faces trouble reaching. People have encroached even the space meant for roads, with the blessings of our own public representatives.”Gadkari said the surrounding infrastructure, like metro and revamping of public transport, does help in relieving the stress on road infra. But he clarified that till encroachments are not removed, things won’t change.On the work currently underway, Gadkari said, “It took us a lot of sweat to build even one road, and we had to try many times. Four-laning from Mayo Hospital to Harihar Mandir has started, and Shaheed Chowk and Teen Nal Chowk are being cleared. We have also built a bridge at Mominpura to reach Kadbi Chowk directly.”Citing the Kamal Talkies to Dighori bridge as proof of change, Gadkari said, “A few days after the bridge opened, I forgot it had been built and left home an hour early. I reached Kamal Talkies Chowk from Mahal in seven minutes. For the first time, I reached a programme 45 minutes before time.”
