Nagpur: The pre-monsoon drive to desilt and clean the Nag, Pili, and Pora rivers remains incomplete nearly 10 days after the extended June 15 deadline and even after the onset of the monsoon. Several river and nullah stretches are still choked with weeds, silt, and dumped sludge, raising concerns over the city’s flood preparedness.The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) launched the drive on April 1 under the direction of municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar. NMC had initially set May 31 as the completion deadline, but extended it to June 15 after the work fell behind schedule. Even after the revised deadline, several stretches of the Nag River and its connected nullahs remain uncleared.A TOI visit to locations, including the Nag River near Panchsheel Square, on Friday found thick mats of water hyacinth carpeting the water surface, heavy silt deposits narrowing the channel, and an excavator still operating in the riverbed, indicating the clean-up is continuing well beyond schedule.The delays are not confined to Panchsheel Square. Similar conditions were observed along the river near the Wathoda flyover and Ashok Square, besides a nullah in Hanuman Nagar and several nullahs in south Nagpur. Thick aquatic weeds, accumulated silt, and constricted channels continue to impede the free flow of rainwater at many locations.Another concern is the handling of excavated silt. At several sites, sludge removed from the riverbed has been left along the banks for weeks. With intermittent rain already lashing the city, residents fear the sludge could be washed back into the river, negating the desilting exercise and reducing the channels’ carrying capacity.The issue assumes significance against the backdrop of the devastating flash floods of Sept23, 2023, when torrential rain coupled with the overflow from Ambazari Lake turned the Nag River into a raging torrent. Low-lying localities, including Shankar Nagar, Daga Layout, Corporation Colony, Abhyankar Nagar, Jaitala, Ramdaspeth, areas around Panchsheel Square and several pockets of south and west Nagpur, were inundated. Hundreds of houses were submerged, vehicles were swept away, disaster response teams rescued stranded residents and losses running into crores were reported.Following the disaster, NMC repeatedly emphasised the need to keep river channels free of obstructions through timely pre-monsoon desilting. However, the incomplete exercise at several locations has raised doubts about the city’s preparedness for another spell of intense rainfall.
