Nagpur: The apathy of the Nagpur Administration was exposed on Saturday as heavy rain lashed the Second Capital of the State. While the entire city was submerged in water, the worst affected were Ambazari residents, who were also seen heckling Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and their MLA, Devendra Fadnavis, during his constituency visit on Sunday, a day after the flood.
For the past six years, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has been accused of not preparing any plans or executing safety works at the Ambazari lake overflow point, despite being alerted by the Dam Safety Organization (DSO) in Nashik. Experts, who had filed a PIL in the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court over the safety of the lake, have highlighted another alarming issue: What if the boundary wall breaches?
Speaking to Nagpur Today, RTE Activist Shahid Sharif, who had filed a PIL in HC over the safety of the lake in 2018, raised this alarming question!
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“In 2018, we filed a PIL in this connection. Taking swift cognizance into the matter, the honorable HC sought an explanation from the authorities, who assured all the necessary preventive measures to ensure the safety of the lake as well as people living in the vicinity. However, the assurance was merely in court. They executed the project without taking any standard of safety into consideration, leading to the havoc we witnessed on Saturday,” said Sharif and asked, “What if the boundary wall breaches? Who would be responsible then? Are politicians and authorities only waiting for any untoward incident to act on it?”
“Now we’re going to file a review petition in this connection,” Sharif told Nagpur Today.
Another expert, who doesn’t wish to be named, informed Nagpur Today that a massive volume of water surged over the bridge, causing significant road damage due to both the strong water flow and poor concrete work, leaving no significant outlet for the water. The entire 100-meter stretch of paver blocks and footpath was washed away, despite a state government resolution from August 2, 2013, which prohibits construction or excavation within 200 meters or 10 times the dam’s height downstream from the dam’s toe. This regulation was disregarded for the construction of the Vivekananda Memorial, and now, an amusement park is being developed there. Under these circumstances, yes, indeed, a question arises: what if the dam broke?
Dam Safety Organization (DSO) Report:
It is pertinent to mention that after inspecting the 152-year-old embankment of Ambazari lake, the DSO report released in February 2017 had said, “Vivekananda Memorial constructed by NMC in Nag river at the overflow point is hazardous for the dam’s safety. This monumental structure is constructed immediately downstream of the spillway bar in the tail channel. It has obstructed most of the waterway and only two vents are kept for discharge over the spillway. If design calculations are done for calculating the water way required for flood discharge over spillway, the same with drawings should be sent to this organization immediately,” the organization said.
DSO also suggested construction of a wider bridge on the road in front of the overflow point. “Bridge is situated across the tail channel, down the downstream of the monumental structure, and has a very small waterway. Detailed study related to the bridge is required for the safety of the dam.”
– Shubham Nagdeve
