Lokmat News Network (Nagpur)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has demanded action against government officials and politicians responsible for illegal constructions on Nag river. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, AAP leaders Ajinkya Kalambe and Pratap Goswami said that water from Nag river entered the residences of about 26,000 families due to illegal constructions on the river, on September 23 last year. The party therefore wants the guilty persons to be punished. The AAP leaders said that Swami Vivekananda Memorial was built illegally as it was within 30 metres of Ambazari dam's spillway. As per Water Resources Department (WRD) rules, no construction can be done within 30 m of a dam spillway.
However, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) officials and office-bearers constructed it despite knowing that it was a no development zone. "The breadth of the spillway is 137 m and the memorial is 117 m wide. As a result, only 20 m is left for Nag river water to flow," said Goswami. Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) had told the state government in 2016 that the culvert on Nag river near the Swami Vivekananda Memorial should be demolished and a new one should be built to allow unobstructed flow of the river water. However, this was ignored. The new culvert is being built now.
Krazy Castle concessionaire Haldiram Foods reduced the width of Nag river within the amusement park and built several ornamental bridges on it. Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), which had appointed it, did not do anything against this illegality. Maha Metro, which took over the park also did not take any remedial action. NIT itself illegally constructed a parking lot for its skating rink in Corporation Colony. It had to be demolished on the orders of the divisional commissioner, the APP members pointed out demanding action against concerned officials. MSEDCL short of land for new substations