NAGPUR: Another bogus work of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has come to fore. Even after spending Rs 50 lakh sanctioned by the city MP and Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari for rejuvenation work of Police Line talao (lake) in 2021, the water body once again has grass all over it.
“The lake, which was rejuvenated last year, had aquatic flora and fauna thriving on it for some time. But it is now under the list of lakes with very poor water quality and upkeep,” said Ramesh Rathore, a regular morning walker and a resident of Anant Nagar.
TOI on Wednesday visited the lake and spotted grass and weeds in the lake, raising a question mark over NMC’s efforts, which got the lake rejuvenated in summer 2021.
TOI found nirmalya and even idols floating in the lake water. Rathore said NMC has done nothing about it. “With the current status, one can easily gauge that NMC has least interest in maintaining the city's water bodies,” said Rathore.
Expressing concern, environment activist Leena Buddhe said, “Imagine having spent Rs50 lakh just to clean up the lake which has again become eutrophic. The algal bloom is a clear sign of polluted water,” she pointed out.
“When will the authorities plan lake rejuvenations instead of ornamental cleaning?” she asked. All this money goes down the drain due to lack of awareness amongst communities. She called for a scientific study on the cause of eutrophication here and then a proper plan needs to be executed to rejuvenate the lake.
NMC’s executive engineer (public health engineering department) Shewta Banerjee admitted that last year, the rejuvenation work was carried out at the lake but it was incomplete. Now it will be done again, she said.
In 2021, NMC had carried out the rejuvenation and beautification work of the lake after city MP and Union minister Nitin Gadkari had sanctioned Rs50 lakh. The amount was mainly utilised for beautification of its surroundings like construction of steps etc and very small sum was utilised for rejuvenation purpose, claimed Banerjee.
