Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): A proposal to convert the existing Kothi Palace-Swimming Pool Tiraha Road into a four-lane road has generated a lot of heat among the local civil society. Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) seems to be going ahead with this dream project worth crores of rupees, but the morning walkers, environmentalists as well residents of the localities that fall under the vicinity of the road have started giving comments against this move on various social media platforms.
It is yet not officially confirmed that the UMC has finalised the work of making the existing Kothi Road into a four-lane road and confusion persists over the issuance of the tender notice for the work. The bhoomi pujan was performed to make the existing Kothi Palace-Science College Road and Kothi Palace-Vikram Nagar Road into four-lane roads, recently. The same people have strongly supported these two works describing them as important and necessary. According to them, hardly many trees located on these roads will come under the road widening exercise, or any urban settlement will be affected. Moreover, vehicular movement will be eased out, they said.
However, when comes to the issue of road widening between Kothi Palace and Swimming Pool Tiraha, people look quite offended. Veteran environmentalist Rajeev Pahwa says, "We won’t sit silent on killing of trees located on this road." Sharing a few pictures of the area on his Facebook wall, morning walker Rafique Khan wrote, “Will we be deprived of this beauty if Kothi Road becomes a four-lane road?” One Jai Kiran Sharma commented that destruction is being done in the name of development. Social worker Deepak Shahpurkar terms the road as a road to heavenly pleasure. One Ashish Johri reacts, “Administration seems to be searching about for possibilities.” Expressing surprise over the move, well-known physician Dr Premendra Kumawat reacted, “Oh no, oh no.”
Kothi Road is considered to be the prime road of the city because most of the divisional and district offices, district courts, Vikram University, Kalidas Sanskrit Academy, Atal Anubhooti Park, Mayur Van, Vikram Kirti Mandir, Simhastha Mela, and Smart City offices as well as bungalows of top civil, police and judicial officers are located near this road. Dozens of prime colonies are also located near this road. More significantly, morning walkers and evening walkers of the city used to do their routine in thousands of numbers daily. Most of them say that if the UMC would go ahead with its project it may harm the eco-system of the area as there was no necessity to convert the existing road into a four-lane road. This project would also lead to noise pollution, they argued.
On being contacted, UMC commissioner-cum-executive director of Smart City, Ashish Pathak, said that the footpath of the existing Kothi Road has developed breaks and they also had to construct a cycle track on the other side of the road. Our priority is to repair the footpath on one side of the road and to develop a cycle track on the other side of the road. So far making Kothi Road as a four-lane road, it would be perused only after carrying out a detailed survey, Pathak clarified.
