Nagpur flooded – despite being the stronghold of Devendra Fadnavis and Nitin Gadkari, town crumbles in rain
Nagpur is the second capital of Maharashtra. It is also CM Devendra Fadnavis and transport minister Nitin Gadkari’s hometown. CM Fadnavis often boasts that Maharashtra is the most developed state in the country.
But these tall claims have been washed away with the rain over the last 24 hours. Today, between 8.30am to 11.30, it rained approximately 162.7mm - and Nagpur City came to a standstill. The infrastructure badly crumbled and stands paralyzed. All the city's roads were flooded. And the Maharashtra Assembly in Nagpur had to be adjourned as rain water entered the Vidhan Bhawan. Power minister Chandra Shekhar Bavan Kule told us, "Water has entered the transformer room inside Vidhan Bhavan premises, so power was cut off, which led to the assembly being adjourned."
This is the second consecutive day of the Monsoon session which was adjourned without any doing business.
Normally, only a Winter session is held at Nagpur, but after 47 years, for the first time, a Monsoon session was shifted to Nagpur. But 6 mm rain in 24 hrs derailed everything. Water entered inside the MLAs hostel also. Around 11am, the assembly was declared adjourned.
Interestingly, near the draining of the Vidhan Sabha, lots of beer bottle were captured by media cameras. The Opposition has now demanded an enquiry into this.
Meanwhile, the situation in the city was even worse. All stations, bus stands were waterlogged. The Vardha Road, leading to the city airport, was flooded, affecting road, train and air transport. Flights were delayed by 1-1.5 hours. Many trains were stopped before entering city limits. Cars on roads were half-submerged in water. Many people left their cars on the roads and walked. School buses were submerged in water. In several pictures, DCP Nilesh Bharne can be seen helping in pushing a school bus. In the morning, schools asked parents to pick up their children due to rains. Tomorrow has already been declared a holiday by schools.
In slum areas, rain water was not only inside homes but reached upto roof tops and terraces. Mor Bhawan railway station, the MP bus stand, the Maharaja Bagh Zoo were flooded with water. Mumbaikars are used to such heavy rains but not the residents of Nagpur as yet. One reason for this disastrous situation is apparently the ‘cementification’ of roads. Which is Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari’s pet project. Gadkari, who is also the MP from Nagpur, wants all roads in Nagpur layered with cement. But this has increased the height of roads, so water entered homes, offices, schools and hospitals. The situation is grim, given that 50-60 percent roads are cementified in Nagpur today.
CM Devendra Fadnavis visited Nagpur Municipal Corporation control room to take stock of the situation and relief measures. The CM also reviewed the measures taken in other parts of the district with senior officials. The Shiv Sena and BJP were again at loggerheads. Shiv Sena leader Sunil Prabhu said, "Had it been Mumbai, you would have asked for an enquiry. BJP runs the Nagpur corporation. Proper infrastructure should have been put in place there to counter rains. Nagpur paralysed in one day's rain — just imagine how BMC copes in Mumbai where we have heavy rain pouring for days." Opposition leader Dhananjay Munde alleged that the BJP is responsible for this fiasco and this day should be remembered as a "black day" in Maharashtra's history.
On Munde’s remarks Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde retorted that, "When it rains, a farmer's son would rejoice. Those calling it a black day have been exposed. They are not sons of farmers, they are drama company [sic]."
CM Devendra Fadnavis was Mayor of Nagpur for two years.
He has been representing Nagpur assembly seat since 1999.
He claims to have high ambitions for Nagpur. Nagpur Metro is expected to start by January 2019, with a twelve-kilometre Metro line to run between Khapari to Zero mile. Nagpur is also in the list of "Smart Cities".
But today’s situation compels us to think - if this is the situation in a city which belongs both to a CM and a highly powerful cabinet minister, what is the fate of small cities and towns in Maharashtra?