Nagpur Residents Struggle with Waterlogging as Faulty Stormwater Network Fails Them
The arrival of the monsoon season brings a sense of excitement to the city, but for over a hundred residents of Shramik Cooperative Housing Society in Yogendra Nagar, west Nagpur, it's a different story. They find themselves in a helpless situation due to severe waterlogging caused by a faulty stormwater network.
According to residents, this problem persists because of the inadequate stormwater network installed by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) a few years ago. A drain runs through their lane and is connected to a pit. Even during the dry season, the sump and drain frequently get clogged, usually once or twice a month, due to the accumulation of debris and waste, leading to overflow.
As soon as the first monsoon rain arrives, the residents' worst fears become a reality as the stormwater drain overflows. The excessive inflow of water from the nearby Ramdeobaba Engineering College hill exacerbates the issue.
Despite submitting numerous complaints to the municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B's office, the residents claim that the civic body has not taken any significant steps to address the problem. Frustrated by the recurring inconvenience, they approached officials from the Mangalwari zone for assistance. Upon inspection, it was revealed that the stormwater drain initially had a four-inch diameter pipe, which was upgraded to eight inches in 2014. However, even this modification failed to resolve the issue.
The residents pleaded with the NMC officials to replace the existing pipe with a larger one, at least 12 inches in diameter, and make necessary modifications to the sump. Regrettably, their requests were ignored, and no concrete solution has been pursued by the authorities thus far, according to the residents.
In 2019, the residents continued to raise the issue with the elected representatives of the area, leading to an inspection by the NMC's technical team. The team ultimately concluded that there was no feasible permanent solution to the problem. Girish Wasnik, the executive engineer of the Mangalwari zone at NMC, assured that a field inspection of the area would be conducted. He emphasized that the NMC is dedicated to resolving the civic issues raised by its citizens.
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