Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) officials have allegedly made false representation to State Government as to utilisation of funds sanctioned as part of flood relief measures, as the work for money allocated in 2024 is still in progress. Exposing the cover-up on part of civic officials, Congress corporator Abhijeet Jha sought investigations into non-completion of flood relief works worth Rs 13.20 crore. They were sanctioned following the devastating floods in Nagpur on September 2023. Taking note of the report submitted by NMC, the Maharashtra Government approved works for construction of protective retaining walls along drains in Johnny Falkar Layout, Ramgiri Slum, Vikas Nagar and Gittikhadan under Ward No. 14. But even after 3-years, the works remain incomplete and Jha, a Civil Engineer claimed that the quality of work is substandard.

 

The work was awarded to Abhi Engineering and Jha said the contractor was repeatedly granted extensions despite failing to complete the works within the stipulated deadline. He has demanded a high-level inquiry into all flood relief works and development projects sanctioned during the NMC administrator’s tenure and the financial year 2025-26. The Government subsequently sanctioned funds for constructing protective retaining walls to prevent similar damage in the future.

 

Several localities, particularly Ramgiri Slum, Vikas Nagar and Gittikhadan, had suffered repeated damage during heavy rainfall over the past three years due to the absence of protective walls. Jha demanded an investigation into the reasons behind the delay, repeated extensions granted to Abhi Engineering, the quality of construction and the role of officials. He sought verification of payments released to the contractor against the actual progress of work and questioned why penal action had not been initiated despite repeated failures to meet the deadlines. The inquiry should establish whether the original contractors executed the projects themselves or subcontracted the works to other individuals or agencies, he added.