NAGPUR will never forget , when most families in areas near Ambazari lake and on the banks of Naag river experienced the worst nightmare of their life. With the onset of monsoon this year, they are worried if heavy downpour will result in a repeat of last year’s flash flooding. Unfortunately, the Government’s response to this particular situation has been of delayed start and sluggish execution as far as mitigation measures are concerned.

 

Following the last year’s Ambazari flash flood, a lot of things came into discussion. These ranged from how the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) had warned the authorities concerned about the weakening of Ambazari bridge in 2018, to the need for taking long-term measures to prevent another such devastating episode. However, the point that dominated the public discourse was the plight of the flood-affected persons and the meagre compensation announced to them. The authorities concerned also did not swing into action to deliberate upon the situation, propose long-term measures, and start executing the plan. The authorities woke up only after some individuals took initiative and the courts issued appropriate directions.

 

As such, the authorities initiated the process for preparing and executing the plan after a delay of a few months since September 2023, and that too, after the Government constituted the high-powered committee (HPC) following the High Court rap. Naturally, the work of dismantling of the Ambazari bridge started late. Obviously, the reconstruction also started only after onset of monsoon. Meanwhile, closure of road from Gajanan Mandir near Ambazari lake to Dharampeth Science College and back, affected public life massively, forcing another court intervention and opening of road through VNIT as a short-term measure. Given the situation, the administration planned to partially open the road (across which the bridge is being constructed) by August 31. Since the work has begun earlier this month, the authorities are surely going to miss the deadline.

 

Adv Tushar Mandlekar, who is representing the petitioners in the court in the instant case, alleged that the Government was playing with the lives of the people. “Forget about the present delay of six months, they should have started the work in 2018 itself when a premier institute like VNIT had made the suggestion. The correction measures have been delayed by six years! We have nothing to do with the details of the tasks being assigned to each department involved. The authorities concerned should have acted swiftly for reconstruction of the bridge and opening the road for public. After constitution of the HPC also, the date for the completion of the reconstruction of the bridge was fixed as August 31, 2024. Considering the delayed start and sluggish execution, they are sure to miss the deadline,” Adv Mandlekar told ‘The Hitavada’.

 

The VNIT, as mentioned by him, had suggested strengthening of the bridge to help prevent the water overflow. There was procrastination in Government’s approach, fed up with the same, people approached the High Court, which slammed the authorities a number of times and raised question as to why the ambitious Ambazari Lake Plan initiated in 2018 had not been completed within the stipulated period of five years.

 

The dismantling of the original bridge began in June 2024 and reconstruction started in July. The rainfall in the last few days has dampened the hopes of completion of the reconstruction of the bridge within the given deadline of August 31. For, the continued rainfall has affected the pace of work and water got accumulated at the work-site. For quite some time during rains, the work gets stalled too as the labourers are unable to proceed with the construction work. The overflow from Ambazari waste weir has just worsened the situation at the work-site.

 

The work of dismantling and reconstruction of the bridge has been assigned to Public Works Department (PWD). The other agencies involved in the project include MahaMetro, Nagpur Municipal Corporation,