Nagpur: Failure of the dewatering system triggered flooding at the Manish Nagar underpasses during the July 28 cloudburst-like downpour, a post-flood review by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has indicated.Sources said rainwater entered the electrical installations, disrupting power supply and crippling the dewatering system. As water accumulated rapidly in both the old and new underpasses, authorities were forced to restrict and divert traffic.A senior MahaMetro official said three 20-horsepower pumps have been installed at the Manish Nagar underpasses. “Two pumps stopped functioning after water entered the electrical installations, while one remained operational. Once the failed pumps were restored, knee-deep water was cleared in about 40 minutes, between midnight and 12.40am. The pumps are functioning properly. The larger problem is runoff from surrounding areas flowing into the underpasses,” the official said.Following the flooding, NMC convened a review meeting with officials from Public Works Department’s World Bank Division and other agencies. The meeting examined failures at key underpasses and directed departments to improve coordination, protect pumping infrastructure and address deficiencies before the next spell of heavy rain.“With only one pump house functioning, the accumulated water could not be discharged quickly enough. The issue and possible corrective measures were discussed during the review meeting,” a senior NMC official said.MahaMetro, which continues to maintain the RUBs, has also convened a meeting to identify measures to prevent runoff from entering the underpasses and damaging the electrical installations.Sources said the civic body was to take over maintenance of the Manish Nagar underpasses after completion of the project under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MahaMetro. However, the underpasses continue to be maintained by MahaMetro, raising questions over responsibility during emergencies. The unresolved handover has assumed significance as MahaMetro is constructing another major underpass in the city, raising concerns over whether similar maintenance ambiguities could affect the upcoming facility.The Narendra Nagar underpass, developed by the PWD’s World Bank Division, also witnessed extensive flooding. Officials said its pumps lacked the capacity to handle runoff from the CONCOR railway depot and the elevated Chhatrapati Nagar area during the intense rainfall.The review highlighted the need for uninterrupted power supply, protected electrical installations, regular pump maintenance and clearly defined responsibility to keep the city’s underpasses operational during extreme rainfall.
