They, the civic authorities of Nagpur, are now scampering around like headless chickens to find a solution to a problem of their own creation -- of unscientifically designed and arrogantly built roads that are among the major reasons causing so much of flooding and water-logging in the city -- over popular protests and complaints. Now that the popular sentiment has risen to a dangerous level, the civic authorities now appear to have come around to agreeing that a genuine solution needs to be found. Hence their approach to the famous Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT). This, thus, may be the lowest point in the city’s history when the people in the administration are also trying to duck at least some part of the responsibility. Therefore, even as he agreed that wrongly-designed cement roads may be among the reasons for water-logging, Municipal Commissioner Dr Abhijeet Chaudhari said meekly that not just the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) but also some other agencies were involved in road-designing and construction -- and that they also should pitch in to seek a reasonable solution to the problem. However, for all this long, common people of the State’s Second Capital have been complaining about the new roads whose height went way above the normal level of most household along both sides. This has been happening for ten-plus years. But the people who complained and feared water-logging in rainy season were told to shut up -- if not in so many words -- as they did not understand the science of road-making.

 

A very senior political leader was reported to have asked the civic officials to ignore the people’s complaints. ‘The people are just whiners. They oppose development just for the heck of it,’ he was reported to have said. But for the past some years, the problem of water-logging in the city has been reaching menacing levels -- with countless numbers of houses getting inundated with rain water even after a couple of hours of down pour. Last year, that is September 2023, Nagpur witnessed a terrible flooding of the Naag River as well as countless localities when heavy down-pour for about four hours lashed the city in the dead of the night. Thousands of houses came under several feet of water that destroyed electronic gadgets, furniture, books, cars. In the aftermath of that terrible calamity, the city’s administration acted as if it had no clue as to a reasonable response to the problem. In several places, common people even crowded around political leaders and hurled abuses at them because of their inaction. That flooding was the result of the overflow of the Ambazari Lake as well as unprecedented down-pour whose water had no escape into the ground because of the bad road design in most parts of the city even beyond the areas along both the banks of the Naag River.

 

The administration and political leaders only acted as if they were serious about the solution, but actually did not bother themselves much to sort out the ticklish problem stemming from they obstinacy to continue constructing badly-designed roads. The people complained, shouted, screamed, wept and even went to courts seeking solution to the problem -- only to little avail, which we must admit. In the aftermath of those floods and unprecedented water-logging, experts felt that the wrongly-designed Swami Vivekananda Memorial at the overflow point of the Ambazari Lake waste-weir was the main culprit. So, orders were issued to sort out the problem -- after a sensible judicial intervention. That problem is now being taken care -- god-knows how properly. Yet, the problem of water-logging in the city is not related only to flooding of localities along the Naag River’s stream. Water-logging is caused due to unscientific design of new roads and pavements that line both the sides of the new roads. That is why countless hundreds of houses get inundated with rain water just after a couple of hours of down pour. This was the story last year. This is the story this year. And this has been the story for many years earlier -- particular the fad of construction of new roads came into vogue, thanks to the obstinacy of a few political bosses who refuse to listen to wise words from the people.

 

To make matters worse, the city has been a victim of senseless and terribly ill-managed road construction projects. Almost every part of the city appears to be under the siege of some or the other road or other construction activity that disturbs public life without any redemption. One is never sure if the road ahead will be good enough to reach one’s destination. For, without any notice, one finds the road having been cordoned off for construction activity. There has not been one single day for the past about ten years when the people have not been troubled due to terrible mismanagement of the road construction activity. But the situation has come to its lowest point. So, the honourable Municipal Commissioner rises from his slumber and admits that water-logging is a problem that needs to be sorted out with a cumulation of effort from different agencies. We have no issues personally against the honourable Municipal Commissioner. But the issue is with the entire administration of which the State Government also is an integral part. We also insist that the problem of bad -- and even callous and careless -- civic management also relates to other issues such as a near-total absence of maintenance of roads all over the city.

 

‘The Hitavada’ has been publishing pictures of badly damaged roads that have not seen any surfacing for years. As a result, the whole city looks like a place deserted by its administrators -- who do not seem to have any sense of shame, let alone responsibility. And now the Municipal Commissioner rises from the ground -- from his hibernation -- to admit that water-logging due to bad designing of roads etc needed a solution. Hence the approach to the VNIT. And therefore the question: Why did not the bureaucratic administration or political leadership of the city not wake up when the people were shouting themselves hoarse about the issue? And, because they have not paid any attention to the problem, will they accept the moral as well as legal responsibility to offer a sensible compensation for the damage the common people suffered due to flooding and water-logging? Of course, never. For, the people in power will ask, a natural calamity could not be attributed to them. Bah! What an utter nonsense! Every sane person knows the difference between a natural calamity and a man-made disaster. What response to the people in power have to this assertion of reality?