Ambazari lake, a victim of mismanagement, mess
   Date :06-Jul-2019
 By Vikas Vaidya
 
ONCE Ambazari lake was the only source of drinking water for city. Subsequent civic bodies forced so-called infrastructural development on it and the water started getting polluted. Gradually it became no more source of drinking water as it was abused by the authorities. Ambazari lake can be termed as a victim of mismanagement, mess. Pradyumna Sahastrabhojani and Shyam Pandharipande found the place from where Nag River originated.
 

 
A panaromic view of Ambazari lake. The land visible in the picture was under water
once upon a time. (Pic by Anil Futane)
 It is at Lava in Wadi area. They studied it deeply and brought to the notice of the then civic authorities that developing infrastructure on the land would pave way for pollution in Ambazari lake. Manukumar Shrivastava in whose regime Pandhrabodi lake was confined to history books, also became part of the system that brought infrastructure development near Lava in Wadi area. Nobody listened to Pandharipande and Sahastrabhojani and ruthlessly developed the colonies. The result was no different.With people started living there, the sewage water found its way into Ambazari lake. As predicted by the two good samaritans, Ambazari lake started polluting. Finally, Government declared that water of Ambazari no more remained potable.
 
This largebeautifulwaterbody is the second largestinthe entire Nagpurcitywithlakeareaaround 155 hectare.The large lake is still in good condition and needs to bepreserved.Theoverflow of the lake forms the start of the Nag river which lies in the South East area of the lake. There is heavy siltation especially in the southern side of the lake. As per the Development Plan of Nagpur, the entire catchment ofAmbazari isagreenzone, with somepartbelongingtotheForest Department. But certain other activities are seen within the catchment area of this lake. Moreover, several beautification schemes have been forced upon it. It was made a source of watersports. Like Gandhi Sagar lake,Governmenthadannounced Sea Plane on Ambazari lake too. Since this is a good source of biodiversity reserve and is also ecologicallysensitive,asthelakewater controlstheextremetemperature of Nagpur, now Government is planningtobringbiodiversitypark here.NagpurMetrothatisbrazenly doing work in city has done damage to Ambazari lake also. Considering the lake size and the three major roads around it, the existing overflow needs to be designed properly. Setting up Vivekanand Smarak is fine but according to experts the constructionhasdamagedthewaterbody to large extent.