Ranchi’s Beautification Plans Falter As Key Projects Remain Incomplete; New Six-Lane Road Announced

Despite a decade of announcements and planning, Ranchi’s major beautification and smart city projects continue to face setbacks due to poor land acquisition, weak planning, and stalled execution. As a result, crores of rupees spent on initiatives such as four smart roads, the Morabadi Times Square, the night market, and the Urban Haat in Kanke have delivered little outcome.

Several smart road projects, conceived in 2016, were launched without securing the required land or ensuring operational readiness. Work on ducts and stormwater drains stopped midway, and unfinished stretches were later filled with sand. None of the four proposed smart roads, costing over Rs 1,700 crore collectively, could be completed.

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Smart Road Projects (Planned in 2016)

*Smart Road 1: Birsa Munda Airport-Birsa Chowk via Hinoo Chowk (Rs 101.01 crore)

-Army authorities denied land on one side, halting work.

* Smart Road 2: Raj Bhavan-Birsa Chowk via Kishoreganj (Rs 471.77 crore)

-HEC agreed to provide land, but the Railways blocked progress.

* Smart Road 3: Raj Bhavan-Kantatoli via Circular Road (Rs 633.89 crore)

-Duct excavation began but was abandoned for months.

* Smart Road 4: Raj Bhavan-Booti Mor via Bariatu Road (Rs 586.46 crore)

In 2022, Ranchi Municipal Corporation began building two vendor and night markets at Morabadi at Rs 4.77 crore, along with lighting, paver blocks, and seating. But the night market never became operational. Vendors were eventually shifted to a nearby market.

At the Kachari Road site near Jaipal Singh Stadium, a street food hub plan was replaced by a night market plan, but with the completion of Ravindra Bhavan, the project was scrapped.

Times Square at Morabadi, envisioned on the lines of London’s landmark, also remains incomplete. For Rs 22 crore, the project saw the installation of LED screens, high-mast lights, and a canopy, but Phase 2 never began. The venue is now used mainly for government events.

The Urban Haat in Kanke, started in 2017 at a projected cost of Rs 17 crore, remains unfinished. After the state government redirected it into a Skill Development Centre and later reversed the decision, RMC issued tenders nine times to resume construction. Only one contractor responded, and the work is still pending.

Amid incomplete older projects, the government has now approved over Rs 45 crore for constructing and beautifying a six-lane road from Birsa Munda Airport to Birsa Chowk. The plan includes greenery, LED lighting, cycle tracks, wall paintings, stone artefacts, landscaped dividers, toilets, and parking spaces.

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Key Developments Proposed

-Airport to Hinoo Chowk (1.65 km):

* Expansion to six lanes, new footpaths and cycling track

* Smart streetlights, tribal-art wall paintings

* Designer trees, landscaping, archway, toilets, drinking water, public park

-Hinoo Chowk to Birsa Chowk (1.2 km):

* Six-lane upgrade, landscaped dividers

* Cycle track, footpaths, streetlights, LED lighting, shady trees

-Hinoo Chowk Modernisation:

* Expansion of the roundabout from 12m to 22m

* Upgraded Karpuri Thakur statue

* Installation of statues of Jharkhand freedom fighters

* LED lighting, greenery, and decorative landscaping

Even though Ranchi is young as a capital, officials acknowledge that development has not progressed as envisioned. The renewed push for the six-lane corridor is expected to bring some momentum back to the city’s infrastructure efforts.