Grave planning flaws and engineering oversights in the World Bank-aided Storm Water Drain project, being executed by the Public Works Department (PWD), have come under scanner in the wake of the severe waterlogging that crippled entire Nagpur city on July 28. Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee Chairperson and NIT Trustee Shivani Dani-Wakhare has wrote a scathing letter to the Public Works Department (PWD) Chief Engineer and demanded immediate technical clarifications and accountability. The issue has now escalated to the Chief Minister’s Office. The matter came into light during the Standing Committee Meeting held on August 21. According to NMC officials, at the centre of the controversy is a major technical anomaly at the proposed outfall site near Pratap Nagar and London Street, where a new storm water line intersects an existing 1,200 mm operational sewer line. Pointing out a glaring elevation conflict, Wakhare noted that the drain bed level stands at 296.29 metres, while the existing sewer’s invert level sits at 297.45 metres.

 

This mismatch poses serious questions about how the base of the new pipe will be positioned without triggering severe structural collisions or wastewater backups. She informed in the meeting that executing agencies completely ignored basic ground levels during project drafting. Addressing the pipeline entanglement, she noted that while alternatives such as re-excavating and replacing misaligned stretches or routing through multiple bends are being evaluated, the engineers responsible must face consequences. “Whoever be it the junior engineer, deputy engineer, or executive engineer laid this erroneous line must face strict action,” Wakhare asserted, stressing that public funds cannot be squandered on haphazard execution.

 

Further exposing the planning deficit, critics highlighted that PWD initiated work from the middle rather than following the mandatory downstream protocol. The blueprint also lacks provisions for handling runoff from the Somalwar school area, while pushing heavy pipelines through narrow lanes threatens existing underground utilities. 

 

 

To avoid the flood crisis situation which occurred on September 23, 2023, NMC has planned to survey the overall drainage system present across city. To prevent such structural fiascos moving forward, the civic body is commissioning a comprehensive Detailed Project Report (DPR) covering the city’s expansive 3,500 km storm network. In this initiative, NMC is looking forward for a Request for Proposal (RFP) initially to create DPR, for which NMC has secured a tentative budget of Rs 5 crore. While the member of the Standing Committee, Abhijit Jha asserted that this move should have implemented just after the flood crisis in 2023, why did the NMC waited for nearly three years to execute this. “During this three year span, if a similar flood or even worse flood would have come, how would have NMC tackled the situation? To ensure that the city never encounter a flood situation, a proper drainage survey and repairing is necessary.”