Nagpur: The Nagpur City BJP President Bunty Kukde has voiced strong criticism against the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), accusing it of inefficiency and negligence in addressing the city’s mounting civic issues. Kukde emphasised that the prolonged absence of Corporators has allowed bureaucracy to dominate the NMC, resulting in filth and deteriorating civic conditions.
In a conversation with Nagpur Today, he discussed the issues faced by Nagpurians.
Kukde said, for the past two years, the NMC has been under administrative rule. However, the administration seems indifferent to the citizens’ problems. Since the Nagpur Municipal Corporation elections have not been held, the administration is running the city without any checks and balances. Earlier, Corporators used to be the ears and eyes of the people. But in their absence, citizens face many difficulties. Observing the citizens’ troubles, many former Corporators take their complaints to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, but the officials there avoid listening to their problems or doing their work, according to Kukde.
Nagpur has 151 former Corporators, including former Mayors and Deputy Mayors. The Municipal Corporation needs to consult with them to solve the city’s problems, but that too is not happening, Kukde alleged.
“We repeatedly requested the Municipal administration to clean the city drains before the monsoon. However, this too was neglected. Due to the negligence of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation in cleaning the drains, they overflowed during the rains, causing water to enter citizens’ homes and leading to significant problems”, Kukde lamented.
When will the Municipal Corporation elections be held?
Several Municipal Corporations, including Nagpur, have been dissolved as their terms have expired. Consequently, their administration is being managed by administrators. This raises the continuous question of when the Municipal Corporation elections will be held. Since the matter of local self-government elections in the State is currently sub-judice, the elections will only take place after the court’s decision, Kukde said. He also mentioned that under the leadership of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis, the development of Nagpur is progressing vigorously.
“Due to the heavy rains in Nagpur, many houses were flooded. There are widespread accusations that the construction of cement roads is responsible for this flooding. The construction of cement roads in many parts of the city has caused water to accumulate, leading to unnecessary suffering for the citizens,” Kukde said.
However, when asked about the need for cement roads in the city, Kukde responded that cement roads are being constructed to save public money, as they last longer.
