Nagpur: The quality of engineering works being executed for civic infrastructure has come under the scanner. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Standing Committee chairperson Shivani Dani Wakhare has flagged major technical lapses in an Amrut 2.0 sewerage project and a World Bank-funded stormwater drain project.She sought action against the officials responsible for poor planning and supervision, including the superintending engineer and chief engineer.Dani Wakhare has complained to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis over the stormwater drain work near Somalwar School, where waterlogging during the July 28 deluge caused considerable inconvenience to citizens. She alleged that faulty planning and execution by Public Works Department’s (PWD) World Bank division contributed to the problem.During an inspection, Dani Wakhare found that a 2-metre pipeline now being laid is at the same level as a 1.2-metre pipeline laid by PWD in 2023. She also questioned a proposal to rectify the defect by laying one pipeline below another inside a chamber. The excavation and chamber work, she said, had itself contributed to waterlogging during the July 28 rainfall.The chairperson also questioned the planning of the World Bank-funded stormwater drain from Pratap Nagar Union Bank to Lande Layout. She said the work should have started from the downstream end near Cher Nalla, not midway, to ensure smooth discharge of rainwater. She sought details of the proposed outfall and how the drain would cross existing sewer lines and other utilities without creating another bottleneck.Separately, she flagged a serious gradient mismatch in an Amrut 2.0 sewerage project. A nearly 200-metre connecting line between two locations was laid above the required level, affecting the gradient and defeating purpose of the network.Dani-Wakhare said the defect has raised questions over supervision by the public health engineering (PHE) department. She has sought details from superintending engineer Shweta Banerjee about the junior engineer, deputy engineer and executive engineer responsible for the work, besides details of payments, the final bill, security deposit and action taken against the contractor.She also questioned a proposal to spend around Rs60 lakh to lay a trunk line through narrow residential lanes to rectify the defect, when re-laying the 200-metre stretch would cost about Rs1 crore.Dani Wakhare said accountability must be fixed on officials who supervised the work as well as those who recommended payments to the contractor. She said action, including suspension, could follow if the inquiry establishes negligence. Fadnavis, she said, has assured strict action in the matter.
