Nagpur News.
“All roads leading to welcome the President of India.” The Orange City or the Second Capital of Maharashtra is being decked up with shining and smooth roads to greet and welcome Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, on his visit to Nagpur. The President will be in city on November 16 to grace the 150th Centennial Celebrations of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and two other functions.
FACELIFT:
The NMC, along with Collector’s Office and Divisional Commissioner’s Office, has geared up and spending every minute in making strategies to make the city beautiful and comfortable for the visit of the President. Moreover, the Public Works Department (PWD) is helping out all the way to give a facelift to Nagpur. However, the roads in other parts of Nagpur have been crying hoarse for repairs and covering the holes. The NMC had promised better condition of roads before Diwali. But the promise has turned hollow as even after Diwali, the roads are as it is with no improvement in sight in the nearest future.
OTHER ROADS:
The Ruling Alliance in the NMC – Nagpur Vikas Aghadi – intervened and mounted pressure on the NMC Administration to speed up the process of roads development and beautification before the arrival of the President. A large amount from various heads was withdrawn two weeks ago and a proposal was passed for re-tarring and asphalting of roads at the cost of Rs 40 crore. The Government of Maharashtra has granted permission for road works of Rs 12 crore on Dhanteras (November 1) but still it would take at least 15 days to start the work.
MAIN FOCUS:
At present, the NMC Administration’s main focus is on the President’s welcome in the city and the key function of the 150th Centennial Celebration to be held at Yashwant Stadium. The re-tarring and asphalting of roads from Nagpur Airport to Raj Bhavan, Raj Bhavan to Yashwant Stadium, in Civil Lines, roads nearby Kasturchand Park has been going on war-footing and even the lethargic PWD has become active to complete the task before the arrival of President Pranab Mukherjee. The NMC is seeking help of Hot Mix Department and the PWD is utilizing its own machineries. The NMC and PWD are jointly spending Rs 50 lakh on the roads which the President will use during his visit to Nagpur. The Sub-Divisional Engineer of NMC’s Hot Mix Plant Rajesh Gurnule refused to divulge details of roads being repaired, re-tarred or the expenditures saying nothing could be said at present.
Rs 52 LAKH ON EVENT MANAGEMENT:
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has geared up to make their 150th Centennial Celebrations the memorable one in the history of the NMC. The civic body has hired the services of a professional event management company to make the event a grand success and will spend Rs 50 lakh on it. The Standing Committee has sanctioned the amount. The Admark Management had filled the bid with lowest amount and was given the contract for the event management including sitting arrangements, stage, lighting, and other arrangements. Apart from the arrangements, web cameras would be installed for the security point of view. The agency will also deploy security guards.
Tenders were invited from various event management companies for the event. Finally, M Admark Events (India) Pvt Ltd, which submitted a quotation of Rs 52,45,292 was chosen. The event management company invited IOI, three were selected for the purpose, and the RFP Department gave its approval to the company. On October 10, a meeting was organised in this regard. A demonstration of the programme was shown on October 12 at Yashwant Stadium to the agencies. They were apprised of all the details about the programme.
