Nagpur: Overflowing sewage, a persistent stench and swarms of mosquitoes have turned life miserable for residents of Popular Housing Society in Manish Nagar, who alleged that Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has ignored repeated complaints about a blocked sewer line.“We have been complaining for three months. Every complaint ends with assurances, but nothing changes. Neither the Dhantoli Zone office nor the PHE Department has inspected the damaged sewer line or initiated repairs. We are forced to endure the foul smell and mosquito infestation every day,” alleged resident Ranjeet Rathod.Residents of plots 30, 31, 32, 33 and 38 said they lodged multiple complaints through NMC’s online grievance portal and chatbot. They claimed sanitary workers informed them that the collapsed sewer line required repairs by the PHE Department and could not be cleared without its intervention.Another resident, Mohan Misal, alleged that the drainage network had virtually collapsed.Rathod further claimed that the official responsible for sewer line maintenance, identified by residents as Sumit Gondane, did not inspect the drainage chamber despite repeated requests. The allegation could not be independently verified, and NMC’s response was awaited.Local corporator Ramesh Bhandari said suction machines and tractors were deployed over the past two days to clear the blockage, but the efforts failed.With stagnant sewage and unchecked mosquito breeding, residents said they feared an outbreak of water-borne and vector-borne diseases. They questioned how a public health issue could remain unresolved for months despite repeated complaints.The incident has raised questions over the effectiveness of NMC’s grievance redressal mechanism and coordination between the PHE Department, headed by superintending engineer Shweta Banerjee, and the Dhantoli Zone office, led by assistant commissioner Pramod Wankhede. Banerjee did not respond to TOI’s calls or messages.ROAD MAY HAVE TO BE CUT OPENBhandari said the blockage has persisted because the affected drainage chamber lies beneath a cement concrete road near a hotel. Engineers from NMC and the AMRUT project concluded that the chamber cannot be accessed without cutting open a section of the road.Authorities explored the possibility of laying an alternative pipeline to avoid damaging the road but found no viable solution.“We have now reached a stage where either a new pipeline must be laid or the cement concrete road has to be cut open to access the chamber,” Bhandari said.
