Mockery of cleanliness NMC’s suction vehicle dumping sewage in Pohra River

 

 

 

Normally, civic administration blames and imposes fine on citizens for littering garbage in public places and polluting water bodies in cities. However, if the civic body itself does the same activity, then who should be held accountable for such acts? On Thursday, a suction-cum-jetting machine (MH-31-DZ-0772) of Hanuman Nagar Zone of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), which is deployed to suck out the muck and other solid material stuck in the sewage chambers and storm drains with an aim to ensure the smooth water flow in the chambers, was caught red-handed dumping grey water and muck directly into Pohra River near Hudkeshwar.

 

On one hand, NMC is spending crores of rupees with the help of Central and State Government for cleaning of Nag, Pili and Pohra rivers of the city and is actively working to convert these rivers from open drainage to clean rivers, but on the other hand, NMC itself is dumping collected sewage in these rivers openly without any hesitation. NMC started Rs 900 crore Pohra River Pollution Abatement project last year in which 500 km of sewer pipeline is planned to be laid. It includes 366 km of new sewage network and replacing 173 km of old line in South-West and South Nagpur. However, these type of activities by NMC raises question over the commitment of civic body towards clean rivers. To ensure prompt attention to complaints about choking of sewage and storm line in the city, NMC is using suction-cum-jetting machines and for the same, awards such as the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the INAE-SERB Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship and the Tata Innovation Fellowship. Dr Mohan is an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences India, and several other esteemed academies. Notably, he has been ranked among the world’s top two per cent of researchers by Stanford University.