Nagpur: The iconic Ambazari Lake might cease to exist if the authorities have their way. It has been suggested that the waters of the lake be emptied and no lake exist there as the life of the mud embankment has expired and overflowing waters may make the nearby localities unsafe. The technical word is ‘decommissioning of dam’.
The suggestion is part of a two-year-plan. The danger to residents came to fore after MahaMetro constructed pillars to lay the tracks and construct a station on a part of the embankment and the open area near it.
As per the High Court’s directives, the officials of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), water resources department (WRD), Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC), MahaMetro and Dam Safety Organisation (DSO) held a meeting on April 12 on “strengthening and remedial measures to be taken for Ambazari dam due to construction of Metro Rail on down stream of the dam”.
On the basis of a PIL by Shahid Sharif, the HC, on March 21, had directed all these departments to prepare a plan for the dam’s safety and strengthening. Sharif has obtained minutes of the meeting under the RTI Act.
As per the minutes, the 148-year-old Ambazari dam was built to last only 100 years. It has outlived its life by 48 years. “Considering the high hazard potential, the necessity of decommissioning of dam may be studied by the NMC and WRD as it is done in developed countries in a similar situation. The possibilities of diverting the water to another sub-basin or side spill channel may also be studied,” the plan said.
The MahaMetro started construction near Ambazari Lake in December 2016 without any permissions or putting in safety precautions. It did not have an NOC from the civic body. Also, the state government’s norms say no construction can be done within 200 meters from an embankment. TOI had exposed these failings.
The MahaMetro did obtain the NOC on August 29, 2017, and also some expert advice from the DSO which suggested a slew of measures. Sharif filed a PIL citing the threats to the embankment and life of people residing in its down stream.
A VIDC official told TOI that the NMC had failed to maintain the dam for decades and also allowed various constructions near it. “A large number of residential localities have come up on the dam’s downstream. Constructions at the overflow point has also narrow the spillway. Encroachments are rampant on the Nag River that begins from the spillway,” he said.
The Ambazari embankment is not the only infrastructure that will be ‘sacrificed’ for the construction of the Metro. Facing the axe are Krazy Castle — the city’s only water and amusement park — historical places like Cotton Market, Santra Market, khoa market, paan market, Gol Bazaar, fisheries building behind Zero Mile and many others.
