Kalamna market in Nagpur struggles with drinking water shortage, new water ATM lies in filth

Drinking water has become hard to find at Kalamna market in Nagpur district. Farmers, traders and labourers are going from place to place for water. A water purification centre recently installed in the market is in a poor state. The borewells on the premises are either shut, or those that work are in a dilapidated condition and surrounded by filth.

As a result, farmers, traders and labourers have to buy water from outside to drink. The condition of Kalamna market in East Nagpur has deteriorated badly inside. Everything from the roads within the market to the toilets is in a bad state. Traders and labourers say they are suffering greatly as these problems worsen day by day, and that nobody is even taking note of the situation.

The new purification centre is the clearest example of this neglect. The Agricultural Produce Market Committee had installed it in the potato, onion and vegetable market. The water ATM is an RO unit, but its taps are damaged and filth has spread all around it. Surrounded by dirt, it is drawing attention for its poor condition. Because of the filth, people have begun to hesitate even to drink water from it.

Some traders at Kalamna market said a stench hangs over the market and dust rises from digging carried out on the roads. According to them, claims were made that state-of-the-art facilities would be developed here too in the name of Smart City, but no facility has actually been provided.

Dirty water is flowing on the road, and mosquitoes are breeding in the filth all around. The toilets in the market premises are also in a very bad state. Dirty water leaks from them and flows out onto the road. The taps in the toilets are broken and damaged, and heaps of filth lie in front of them.

Traders claim that instead of getting facilities, the market has begun to be neglected. The claim that the market would be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities by linking it to Smart City is also proving false.

Notably, the key areas selected under the Nagpur Smart City project lie adjacent to Kalamna market. It was therefore believed that Kalamna market and the Kalamna area are the main commercial and transport hub of all these areas, meaning development across this entire belt was expected to have a direct impact on trade at Kalamna.

The reality, however, is that this vegetable market is still beset by problems and doing business here is becoming harder. Traders allege that the administration is not taking the matter seriously at all, and that the market committee is merely looking on.