Water shortage may delay Rs 900-crore cement road work in Nagpur

Nagpur: Water stocks in reservoirs in the area have fallen to a worrying level, and there are fears of a severe water shortage in the coming summer. Against this backdrop, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation has begun seriously considering postponing Phase 5 of its ambitious cement concrete road project.

The infrastructure project, worth about Rs 900 crore, needs lakhs of litres of water for mixing concrete, laying the layers and daily curing. The city cannot afford this burden while the administration is struggling to conserve drinking water. Senior officials have clarified that a formal postponement has not yet been finally approved, but the thrust of the serious discussions is towards putting the work off.

The office of the executive engineer in the corporation's public works department confirmed this. The office said the department is actively considering the situation and that Phase 5 of the cement road project is likely to be postponed. It also said the final decision would take into account that large-scale concreting needs enormous amounts of water and that the availability of drinking water is the administration's most important priority.

Nagpur district has recorded its lowest monsoon rainfall in 18 years. The major dams supplying water to the city, including the Pench and Kanhan systems, stand at a worrying 58 per cent of capacity. Corporation squads have proposed fines of up to Rs 5,000 for misuse of drinking water. In such a situation, supplying water tankers for construction would go against water conservation directives.

Under the original plan, Phase 5 was to concrete 135 major asphalt roads, 89.22 km in length, across nine zones of the corporation. After recommendations from local MLAs and corporators, the proposal had grown to about 265 roads.

The major allocations included Ashi Nagar (16.49 km across 22 roads), Dharampeth (15.36 km) and Lakadganj (13.33 km). The plan, prepared on the basis of Phase 4, also provided for roadside storm-water drains and pits for groundwater recharge.

Taps are already running dry in many wards. The mood in the administration is therefore that heavy road works should be kept on hold until the next monsoon, that is, until inflows into the reservoirs improve.