Nagpur: After a brief pause, the monsoon hit Nagpur city with vengeance on Thursday. It rained 87.3 mm in just four hours bringing the city to a standstill with roads disappearing under water. It was the season’s highest rainfall in a single day. The sky had turned black from early morning but the downpour started at around 1 pm. Initially, there were scattered light showers but at 2 pm, it rained heavily all over the city till around 5 pm.
The heavy rains again exposed the shortcomings in pre-monsoon preparedness of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Narendra Nagar RUB which is infamous for water-logging in the city during monsoon, again turned into a small pond. Due to water-logging under the RUB, the traffic movement completely stopped and the cops came in action to control the traffic movement on the busy Ring Road. Traffic coming towards Narendra Nagar Square from Shatabdi Square was diverted towards Radisson Blu Square via Narendra Nagar flyover to avoid the RUB.
Previously also the city had recorded 60 mm of rains but civic body officials failed to take cognisance resulting in all round disruption in the city on Thursday. Throughout the city traffic snarled on major stretches due to formation of water puddles at the landing that slowed down the speed. Water started accumulating in potholes, over newly constructed cement roads and low-lying areas of the city soon after rains intensified.
The traffic from Khamla Square was diverted from Chhatrapati Square towards Wardha Road. Due to the rush hour on Ring Road, heavy traffic-jam occurred at every square including Chhatrapati Square, Narendra Nagar Square, Radisson Blu Square, Khamla Square etc. It became a tough job for traffic cops to maintain the traffic movement smoothly for hours. Traffic-jam due to water-logging took place throughout the city. Commuters who used Wardha Road and Ring Road suffered the most. Like Narendra Nagar RuB, the newly-constructed Manish Nagar RuB also got waterlogged. Traffic was diverted to other adjoining roads which caused traffic-jams on inner roads of Manish Nagar.
Low-lying areas of the city that are situated near Nag, Pili and Pohra rivers, witnessed water-logging in residential areas. Uprooting of trees also was reported at many places. The officials of the fire and emergency department were busy removing uprooted trees and rescuing citizens residing in low-lying areas.
Municipal Commissioner reviews situation:
The Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Radhakrishnan B visited the City Operations Centre at New Administrative Building of NMC and took stock of the situation on Thursday afternoon. The CCTV network was beaming the live situation and the Municipal Commissioner immediately relayed the directives to staff. Low-lying localities were inundated as footage was screened, immediate orders were relayed to ground staff.
Senior officers including Additional Municipal Commissioner Ram Joshi, Deputy Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, Dr Gajendra Mahalle, Superintending Engineer, Manoj Talewar, Executive Engineer Ajay Mankar, Deputy Chief Officer, Fire and Emergency Services, B P Chandankhede, Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) eGovernance In-charge, Dr Sheel Ghule, Anoop Lahoti also were present.
NMC has appealed citizens to contact the control room in case of any emergency during the monsoon. The nos. are 0712- 2567029/2567777 or Fire Brigade on 101/0712-2540299 or on WhatsApp no. 7030972200.
