Nashik’s Rs 450-crore, 13.26-km Canal Road to ease traffic

Nashik is set to get a proposed 13.26-km road along the Left Bank Canal at an estimated cost of Rs 450 crore, with the project aimed at easing traffic congestion on Gangapur Road and in Panchavati.

Mayor Himgauri Aher announced the proposal at a press conference on Friday. The project was proposed by Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan and is planned on the lines of the Sabarmati riverfront model.

The canal will be covered along the stretch passing through the city limits, creating space for a major traffic corridor and urban development.

The project will include roads measuring 7.5 metres on either side of the Left Bank Canal and will be developed by the state Water Resources Department.

The project is being planned ahead of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela. Both the Left Bank and Right Bank canal-road projects are aimed at easing congestion on Gangapur Road and in Panchavati.

The Right Bank Canal road, which has already received approval, will stretch for 5 km from Mahatma Nagar Road to Motiwala College. The Nashik Municipal Corporation will develop it at a cost of Rs 65 crore.

The Kumbh Mela Authority had earlier approved Rs 56 crore for the Right Bank Canal road. The NMC subsequently sought an additional Rs 9 crore, after which the authority recently granted administrative approval for the revised cost.

Aher said the civic body aims to complete the Right Bank Canal road by March 2027, with the tendering process expected to begin shortly.

The mayor also said the Kumbh Mela Authority had approved 28 of the 59 roads proposed by the NMC for development ahead of the event.

As part of Nashik’s long-term mobility plan, 12 more roads, including the Pathardi-Wadala Road, will be developed under the proposed road grid network.

According to Aher, the additional roads are expected to improve connectivity, create alternative traffic corridors and cater to future transport demand.

The Left Bank Canal road remains a proposal with an estimated cost of Rs 450 crore.