Emergency Repairs Begin on Broken Varanasi-Bhadohi Highway Stretch

VARANASI: Temporary repair work has begun on the badly damaged Varanasi–Bhadohi highway from Parmapur Akelwa near the Ring Road to the district border, months after incomplete four-laning left motorists navigating potholes, unfinished drains and abrupt changes in road surface.

The Public Works Department is filling holes to restore basic movement, with proper patching expected after the rains. This is an interim arrangement. The contractor previously carrying out the widening stopped work in June after completing about 56 per cent, and full construction is not expected to resume until the project is retendered.

The wider plan is to create a four-lane route from Varanasi towards Bhadohi bypass, Janghai and Machhlishahr in Jaunpur. PWD's Construction Division 1 has already completed roughly nine kilometres from Collectri Farm at Chandpur crossing through Lohta to the Ring Road, and traffic opened there last year.

Beyond Parmapur Akelwa, the National Highway division is responsible for about 40.85 kilometres of widening at a reported project value of ₹965.30 crore. Civil works account for ₹268.99 crore, with the remaining amount tied to compensation and utility shifting. SKS Infra held the earlier contract before work stopped and the associated plant closed.

The worst stretches named by local reporting include Parmapur, Bahri Nala, Kurauna, Jansa, Badaura market, Gorai market, Katwarupur, Kakarahwa, Matuka, Takkhu ki Bawli, Sirihira, Nevada, Kapsethi crossing and market, Lakhansenpur and Shivdaspur. Riders have fallen and suffered injuries where broken surface, incomplete shoulders and drains combine.

Emergency filling must be compacted and marked. Loose material thrown into a water-filled hole can wash out quickly or become a skid hazard. Work zones need reflectors and advance warning at night, while deep edge drops should be barricaded. Drain openings are particularly dangerous to two-wheelers when rainwater hides their shape.

Retendering should not erase accountability for the unfinished contract. The department needs to state why the agency left, what work and materials were verified, whether guarantees are being invoked and how the new tender will protect the public from another mid-project exit. Residents also deserve a realistic timeline rather than a repeated announcement that work has started.

Motorists should reduce speed and avoid overtaking at patched bottlenecks, especially through market areas. Heavy vehicles must respect load limits so temporary repairs have a chance to hold.

The current operation can reduce immediate risk, but pothole filling is not the promised highway. The corridor will be truly repaired only when retendering is complete, drainage is finished and one continuous, safely marked road replaces the stop-start surface users face today.