Nagpur: Open defiance of court orders has become routine on Nagpur’s roads. Despite repeated strictures from the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, unauthorised pandals and shamianas continue to mushroom across main roads, junctions, and narrow lanes, turning public streets into private banquet halls.
Weddings, birthday parties and house-warming ceremonies are being hosted at the cost of public convenience and safety. Traffic is choked for hours. Residents are forced to take long detours. Worse, ambulances, fire brigades and police vehicles risk life-threatening delays as roads are blocked without permission.
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Open lawlessness, selective enforcement
Earlier, temporary structures required prior permission from zonal offices, granted only after ensuring no obstruction and no objection from neighbours. That permission has now been completely withdrawn following High Court directions. Yet, violations have not only continued, they have surged.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) empowered its Nuisance Detection Squad (NDS) to act. Fines were doubled from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per day by Municipal Commissioner Dr Abhijeet Chaudhari. But the numbers raise uncomfortable questions.
Between November 18 and November 30, action was taken in 80 cases, collecting Rs 1.66 lakh. December saw 177 cases and Rs 3.80 lakh in fines. In the first 20 days of January, 68 cases were booked, yielding Rs 1.36 lakh.
However, enforcement appears glaringly uneven. The Nehru Nagar zone recorded 61 cases in December alone. Meanwhile, the Dharampeth zone, where multiple pandals were reportedly erected, saw virtually no action, with just one case booked between November 18 and January 20.
The disparity fuels suspicions of selective enforcement and administrative apathy.
Power theft adds to the chaos
The problem does not end with illegal occupation of roads. Rampant electricity theft accompanies many of these unauthorised events. Temporary connections are drawn illegally from nearby poles and feeders, often in full public view.
The unchecked pilferage reflects poorly on the vigilance of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), whose officials appear unable, or unwilling, to clamp down. The issue is not confined to Nagpur alone; power theft at social functions has become widespread across Maharashtra’s towns and villages.
Court orders reduced to paper?
NDS Chief Veersen Tambe has reiterated that, following High Court directions, roads cannot be obstructed under any circumstances. Yet ground reality suggests otherwise.
When court warnings are ignored, permissions withdrawn, and penalties increased, but violations continue unabated, the larger question is about deterrence. If offenders treat fines as a minor event expense and enforcement varies by zone, the message is clear: public roads remain vulnerable to private takeover.
Unless uniform, uncompromising action is taken, Nagpur risks normalising a culture where law bends before convenience, influence, and celebration, while ordinary citizens pay the price in traffic jams, delayed emergencies, and eroding civic discipline.
