Why funds to shift Ambazari cablesnot released: HC asks principal secy

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court took a serious note of the incomplete work of the bridge over the spillway of Ambazari Lake due to a lack of necessary funds to relocate the power cables.
The widening of the Ambazari Bridge is being carried out by the Public Works Department (PWD). However, the project faced delays because funds were not provided to relocate the 132 kV power line running underground near the bridge.
Govt lawyer and senior advocate Devendra Chauhan raised the issue of funds before the court. To complete the bridge work, these 132 kV cables need to be relocated. For this, the company requested approximately Rs3.77 crore from the administration. Chauhan requested the court to order the department to release the funds immediately. Additionally, the govt also provided some funds to the municipal corporation, which should also be allocated, he demanded.
Taking note of this, the high court came down on all concerned departments, including the divisional commissioner, district collector, and municipal commissioner. The court said that such issues should not arise when there are orders to ensure no shortage of funds for the Ambazari Lake strengthening project, and instructed the chief secretary of the Disaster Management Department to provide clarification on the matter.
Flood-affected residents of Ambazari area had filed a public interest litigation in the High Court. The hearing was conducted before the bench of justice Nitin Sambre and jnustice Vrushali Joshi. In this PIL, the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company filed an intervention application, complaining that the administration is not providing funds to relocate the 132 kV power line near the bridge.
In August, the Nagpur District Collector sent a proposal to the principal secretary of the Disaster Management Department to allocate Rs3.77 crore from the disaster management fund for this work. However, since no decision was made on this proposal, the transmission company has not yet received the funds. A high-level committee chaired by the divisional commissioner has been appointed to implement the Ambazari Lake strengthening project. The Divisional Commissioner assured the court that there would be no shortage of funds for the project.
The state advocate general also gave assurances to the high court. In 2017, the HC had issued orders regarding funds in another public interest litigation related to Ambazari. Against this backdrop, the court questioned the delays shown by various administrative departments in this work.