District Collector, Municipal Commissioner, and Chairman of the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), were absent in the public meeting that was called by the flood-affected citizens to discuss the issues and demands with them on Thursday. The city fathers avoided facing public in the programme on the flood issue. In their absence, experts and urban planners of the city addressed the public and also urged them to come together to fight their own battle to make the city sustainable and flood-free in future. With the callous attitude of the administration in mind, the experts talked about the citizens’ responsibilities to avoid such kind of flood in future. Nagpur city witnessed heavy rainfall on September 23 due to which the Ambazari Lake overflowed. Due to flooding in the Naag River, water-logging took place in residential areas of both sides of the river. Thousands of residents got affected due to the flooding but the administration failed to address the issues and pay compensation even after 25 days of the incident. “It was a ‘Man Made’ disaster.

 

However, the administration is trying to prove that it is a natural disaster. If they call it as ‘Man Made’, then they have to conduct probe and to set responsibilities,” said Paramjit Singh Ahuja, eminent practising Architect, PSA Design Studio and an expert panellist during the programme. “To avoid any such incident in future, the administration should prepare a drainage plan for the city. Experts like us and citizens should come forward to join hands with the administration to help with these plans and to implement it for better future,” said Ahuja. Subhash Deshpande, Retired Executive Director, Irrigation Department mentioned about the threat to Ambazari dam due to metro pillars. “Construction of metro pillars on the embankment of Ambazari Lake is a biggest threat to the water body. The administration has completely ignored the threat in the name of development.

 

The embankment of the dam is bearing huge pressure and the vibrations due to the movement of the metro rail,” Deshpande said. Architect Pradyumna Sahasrabhojanee talked about the place of origin of Naag River and how the people of Nagpur and the administration turned the water body into a open drainage. “If we want to avoid such flooding in the future, the administration should think about removal of Vivekanand Memorial, Krazzy Kastle and the NIT Skating Rink from the stretch. These three structures are obstructing the flow of Naag River,” said Sahasrabhojanee. The event was compered by Anuradha Tikas. Mahendra Chandak and Anasuya Kale Chhabrani also shared the dais during the event. Many flood-affected citizens asked questions to the experts during the event.