Unauthorised construction of Swami Vivekananda Memorial

Staff Reporter

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has taken serious note of the construction of Swami Vivekananda Memorial near Ambazari Lake, despite the absence of a development zone in the vicinity. The court also directed the Divisional Commissioner and Advocate General to remain present during the next hearing scheduled on May 8. The court is seeking accountability from the responsible officials in this case. Expressing dismay over the matter, the High Court took a stern stance against the officials of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). The division bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri conducted the hearing on Friday. Earlier in the day, NMC officials were absent during the proceedings, which led the High Court to order their presence at 4 pm. Additional Commissioner of NMC Anchal Goyal and other officials appeared in compliance with the court’s directive.

During the hearing, the High Court inquired whether the entire area surrounding Ambazari Lake falls within a development zone. Dissatisfied with the response from NMC lawyers, the court strongly advised them that such expectations couldn’t be placed upon them. Furthermore, the court directed the NMC counsel to summon all senior officers and questioned why they weren’t in attendance. Expressing dissatisfaction with the response, the court warned of issuing contempt notices against absent officials. The court stressed upon the violation of rules in erecting the monument and ordered concerned departments and NMC to submit an affidavit by May 7. The next hearing is scheduled for May 8. The matter was brought to court through a public interest petition filed by Satyanarayan Badrinarayan Jaju, Sumeet Satish Thakur, and Sanjay Pandharinath Dhoble, represented by Adv Prashant Sathianathan. The petition highlighted the unauthorised felling of trees near Ambazari Dam by the NMC, which began without waiting for citizens’ objections or obtaining proper permissions.

Ambazari Lake is designated as a wetland which resulted in the High Court to question the construction of the memorial and warning against making citizens’ lives vulnerable. The court also directed the Executive Director of the Irrigation Department to submit an affidavit regarding the matter. In a separate public interest litigation filed due to financial losses incurred by citizens following water seepage from Ambazari Lake during heavy rains in September 2023, various demands were made. Adv Tushar Mandlekar represented the petitioners, Adv Nivedia Mehnata appeared for the State, Adv Ravi Sanyal for MPCB, Adv Prashant Sathianathan for the petitioners and Adv Gemini Casat for NMC.