Nag river turns into parking space as NIT puts up concrete slab over a larger area of river passing through Daga Layout.
Nagpur News.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken it upon himself for cleanliness of river Ganga and even chalked out the strategy to launch Ganga cleaning drive. So it is quite irony that river Nag which gave Nagpur its name and recognition, is facing apathy at the hands of local authorities. At a time when PM is in the town, it has come to the fore that the Nag river is being vanished at the hands of none other than the caretaking authorities itself. And the culprit this time is Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) which carelessly covered up the river stretch passing through Daga Layout here. In blatant violation of law which states that covering or erecting any structure on rivers or water bodies that are integral to the geography of the region is strictly prohibited,the NIT officials have laid a concrete slab over the course of river. The platform is being used as parking space for NIT’s skating rink located near VNIT college. While the river passing through any city has to be monitored by the civic authorities or trust, the goof up has brought forth the fact that how law keepers ignore the book of law and act on its whims and fancies.
At a time when hues and cries are being made to resurrect the lost glory of Nag river, NIT remained elusive about its conservation. In this perfect case of remarkable ignorance towards law, NIT has gone overboard and cared a damn about protecting this natural wealth.
Nag river which originates from Ambazari flow point takes its course through Daga Layout and then passes through various stretches of city. At Daga Layout, NIT has covered a big stretch of the river by erecting concrete slab on it and using the platform as parking space for its skating rink.
When Nagpur Today quizzed NIT Superintendant Engineer Gujjalwar in this regard, he tried to hush up the matter by excusing that the slab on Nag river was laid long before the law came into force. However the latest pictures of he construction available with Nagpur Today clearly showed the concrete work has been recently done.
When Gujjalwar was told that the construction was done recently, he failed to explain the glitch. “We have covered the river not fully but partially and now what can be done when it has been already constructed. There is already a petition against us filed in this regard and we are replying to that.”
Considering Modi’s inclination towards conservation of Ganga, it remains to be seen how he acts on this apathy towards Nagpur’s own Nag river and how he would act on the erring NIT officials.
