Nagpur: Citizens of Nagpur wished the President of India Ram Nath Kovind should have taken round of entire city. For some localities and streets the visit of the President has come as blessing in disguise. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation as well as district administration certainly wanted the President to see the city in rosy colours. That is, perhaps, the reason why all pavements along the route of the President have been repaired, coloured and given a fresh look. Road markers too have got a fresh paint. Garbage and debris were being picked up. Special drives for cleanliness were taken up and welcome banners, required number of helipads were erected. Encroachments were removed. In sum, the city wore a beautiful look. But in patches. The other side of the city tells a different tale, an ugly tale.
A round of the city, the Second Capital of Maharashtra, would reveal that the entire system is collapsing due to apathetic attitude of concerned authorities. The city is littered with garbage. The city produces tonnes of garbage everyday but miniscule quantity of this waste is disposed of properly. Public toilets are constructed, their maintenance becomes another challenge. Water supply should be regularized at these urinals and its cleaning should be looked after too.
From traffic chaos to encroachments, water supply problems to sanitary woes, the Orange City reels under absence of civic amenities. The city is full of dust, dirt, garbage, open nullahs and lack of street lights. Citizens blame the local leaders for neglecting the issues pertaining to cleanliness in the area.
Uncleared garbage is a common sight in many areas. The worst affected are children as playgrounds are being used as dumping yard. Poor sweeping of roads results in garbage piling up, and many residents burn garbage in internal lanes across the city.
Talking about the condition of roads is less said the better. Many roads do not have storm water drainage system which causes waterlogging during monsoon. The roads are also in a bad shape. The potholes riddled roads pose threat of accidents. In fact many have lost lives in fatal road accidents. The inferior quality work in construction of cement concrete roads across the city has been exposed a number of times. Cracks have developed in many newly constructed cement roads. The blocks used is road dividers are of bad quality. Cement used in construction is also of low quality. Cement is coming loose even if hit by the hand at some places. Sewage and storm water drain network is also not proper.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation as well as district administration should not wait for a VVIP visit to give facelift to the city. The citizens of this city are also VVIPs in their own way. So provide them the best of facilities.
