Nagpur: Three years after the September 2023 floods exposed serious gaps in Nagpur’s rainwater drainage system, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has finally moved to prepare a comprehensive stormwater drainage plan for the city.Standing Committee chairperson Shivani Dani Wakhare said a proposal to appoint a project management consultant (PMC) to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) was approved at Friday’s Standing Committee meeting.The DPR will cover nearly 3,000 km of drainage and stormwater drainage networks and is intended to provide a comprehensive framework for managing rainwater across the city. The consultant will be paid around Rs5.03 crore for preparing the DPR.Dani said a flood-management plan had been prepared after the 2023 floods, but no work was undertaken for its implementation during the subsequent administrator-led period.“After the 2023 floods, a plan was prepared to tackle flooding, but there was no progress on its implementation. The city again faced serious flooding during the July 28, 2026, deluge,” Dani said while speaking to reporters after the meeting.The proposed DPR is expected to assess the existing drainage network and identify requirements for future expansion and flood mitigation. It will also have to factor in infrastructure and roads under different agencies so that rainwater management is not restricted to NMC-owned assets.ROW OVER RS 1.41CR TRICOLOUR PURCHASEThe Standing Committee also approved the proposal concerning the purchase of 1.75 lakh Tricolours under the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign at a cost of around Rs 1.41 crore. The flags were procured at rates ranging from Rs 73 to Rs 87 each.Congress corporator Wasim Khan questioned the rates, saying the flags were procured in cotton, khadi and satin and alleging that flags available for around Rs 30 were purchased at nearly three times the price.Khan also pointed out that nominated Congress corporators were not provided flags despite the civic body’s initiative being otherwise commendable.Dani said the purchase was partly supported through contributions from elected representatives. MLA Pravin Datke and Mohan Mate contributed Rs 20 lakh each, while MLA Krishna Khopde contributed Rs 20 lakh and Sanjay Bhende Rs 10 lakh. She said the civic body would invite tenders for such purchases in future.CHOKE-CLEANING MACHINES TO WORK SECOND SHIFTWith complaints of sewer-line choking increasing during the monsoon, the Standing Committee also approved additional deployment of choke-cleaning machines during the afternoon shift from 2pm to 6pm.NMC currently has six 10,000-litre and six 3,000-litre choke-cleaning machines. Smaller machines are also being procured to enable cleaning operations in narrow lanes and congested localities.POTHOLES TO BE FIXED BEFORE GANESHOTSAVDani said instructions had been issued to the chief engineer and superintending engineer to prepare a plan to repair potholes across the city before Ganeshotsav.Officials have been asked to first invite complaints regarding potholes and subsequently shortlist and address them area-wise, she said.
