...and then there was no LIGHT, post G-20

By Anil Futane

As part of the beautification of the city, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) installed hundreds of Bollard lights during Civil-20 (C-20) inception meeting held in city under the G-20 Summit hosted by India in the year 2023. After one year since the International event, total 92 Bollard lights that lined up VIP Road from Vanamati to Alankar Square have been stolen. NMC spent a huge amount for beautification of Nagpur during C-20 meeting. NMC got Rs 200 crore from the Central Government for transforming the city. During the period, Nagpur turned into a clean and posh city due to the hard work of the civic body. Every corner, specially West and South-West Nagpur parts were decorated with beautification projects including landscaping, flags, lights etc., to impress the International delegates visiting the city.

People of Nagpur appreciated the efforts of the administration.

However, some miscreants stole flags, earthen pots and saplings during the International meet in the city making headlines for wrong reasons. Repeating the ill-practice, some unidentified miscreants stole as many as 92 Bollard lights out of 139 installed at various places, costing thousands of rupees each. “We have received information that about 25 Bollard lights along VIP Road have been stolen, resulting in a loss of around Rs 2.25 lakh. We are going to lodge police complaint against this theft,” Rajendra Rathod, Executive Engineer, Electrical Department, NMC told The Hitavada.

Though NMC is claiming only 25 lights were stolen, The Hitavada counted the number and found 92 such lights missing while 57 were still there. If a light costs around Rs 10,000 then NMC has incurred a loss of around Rs 9.20 lakh. NMC installed Bollard lights at VIP Road, Wardha Road, Ajni Square, opposite Sai Mandir, near Airport, Airport Road, near gates of CSIR-NEERI, Civil Lines and other areas ahead of Civil-20 meet hosted by the city. During C-20, citizens clicked selfies near the lights and also chilled out on beautified footpaths with family and friends.