Nagpur: The revival of the long-defunct Futala musical fountain is now said to be in the final groundwork phase, with the last batch of specialised cables expected to reach the city within the next two days, even as a French technical team is now likely to visit Nagpur after May 10 to oversee the next stage of installation, confirmed senior MahaMetro officials.MahaMetro officials said nearly 74,000 metres of cabling is required for the project, of which only around 6,000 metres remain to be delivered. “The final consignment — nine drums of cable — is expected shortly. Once that arrives, the entire cable requirement for the project will be in place,” an official said.Installation activity has already gained momentum on-site. With the majority of the cable stock received, teams have begun cutting and preparing the material for phased laying. The network, comprising 4-core, 8-core and optical fibre cables, will run underground and underwater to support the fountain’s power supply and synchronised operations.Parallel to the electrical work, the structural component of the project has also progressed. Officials confirmed that the steel skeleton of the proposed ‘banyan tree’ — a key visual feature of the redevelopment — has been completed. Work on the remaining elements of the structure will now be taken up in stages.The French technical team, whose visit was delayed earlier due to the West Asia conflict, which kept their flying to India on hold, is now expected to arrive after May 10. Officials said their presence will be crucial for supervising installation, integration and calibration of the fountain’s specialised systems. “Once the team visits and reviews the progress, we will move to the next phase, including placing orders for the pump systems required to power the fountain,” the official said. The pumps, along with associated components, are expected to be sourced from abroad and installed under expert supervision.
