2 days ago
Bawankule slams NMC over delay in retaining wall works
Nagpur: Nearly 20 months after the devastating flash floods of September 2023, critical retaining wall works across Nagpur's rivers remain incomplete, exposing the city to yet another monsoon disaster.
At a high-level review meeting on Saturday, guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule criticised the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and contractors, citing delays, fund mismanagement, and subletting of major projects.
The meeting, attended by senior officials including chief engineer Manoj Talewar, MLAs Pravin Datke, Krishna Khopde, and former corporator Narendra Borkar, revealed that despite a sanctioned outlay of Rs204.71 crore for flood mitigation including Rs163.23 crore for 56 retaining wall works and Rs33.74 crore for 41 damaged roads, progress was sluggish.
NMC's own presentation claimed 50 wall projects were complete and 5 ongoing.
However, independent reports and ground feedback exposed a different picture, especially in flood-hit areas like Kumbhartoli, where no work had begun.
Officials admitted that contractors who took up assignments worth Rs10 crore and Rs6 crore under the Rs150 crore tender sublet them to petty agencies with limited capacity. "This subcontracting without oversight has brought the entire project to a crawl," Borkar told TOI, who also attended the meeting.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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Even more alarming was the funds bottleneck. Though tenders worth Rs154.42 crore were floated, only Rs86.63 crore was disbursed. Contractors blamed this for halting work midway. NMC has now requested the state govt to release the remaining Rs70.26 crore.
Bawankule, visibly displeased, instructed the NMC to submit a fresh proposal to the state govt for additional funds to cover remaining disaster management works, including parallel sewage and stormwater infrastructure.
He also directed the municipal commissioner to immediately conduct zone-wise meetings with MLAs and ex-corporators and prepare a detailed disaster preparedness report before the monsoon sets in.
He further ordered two Janta Darbar sessions at Gandhibagh and Lakadganj to directly address citizens' grievances. A zone-level review will also be held ahead of the next public hearing.
Borkar pointed out that NMC is prioritising projects in areas with no immediate threat, while vulnerable localities continue to suffer. "This mismanagement is nothing short of negligence," he said.
