Nagpur: Guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule inspected the flood-hit areas and told the officials that encroachments on bed of rivers and nullahs had caused flooding. He asked the district collector to take over all the nullahs on revenue land and remove the encroachment within 15 days.
Bawankule told the media that Ghogli, Besa, Beltarodi and Hudkeshwar areas had suffered maximum flooding. “Water flowed over the bridge at Ghogli and entered houses. A company Vaidya Plywood had diverted the course of the nullah and done construction on the original river bed. The administration had tried to remove the encroachments but the company got a stay from the court. We will now present the real picture before the court,” said the minister.
“Many builders had encroached on nullah beds and done construction. This has reduced the width of nullahs and hence their water carrying capacity. This was reason of water entering the houses,” he said.
In Gonhi Sim many citizens have constructed houses on the nullah. The builder of Take Off City township has taken a part of the nullah into his possession and built a compound wall.
Some 1,200 students of Adarsh Sanskar Vidya Mandir had got stuck up on Friday due to heavy rains. While about 700 could leave for their homes after some time, the remaining 500 had to stay back. This school also encroached a part of the nullah. “The school management did not make any arrangements for students despite the weather warning. I have instructed the metropolitan commissioner to cancel the license of the school,” said Bawankule.
In Hudkeshwar, St Paul School has also encroached on the nullah. Bawankule instructed the administration to issue notice to the school. Several encroachments were found on Dhorya Pohra nullah.
In Shivni village of Kamptee taluka, water had entered large number of houses. The minister asked the authorities to immediately widen the nullah.