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.