Even as Nagpur is one among the few cities in the country to be developed as Smart City, the progress made so far is anything but smart. Still grappling with basic issues like roads, sanitation and water supply to name a few, it seems the city has a lot of catching up to do with cities that have set a benchmark in these parameters. Ahead of the civic elections which are likely to be held in April, panellists at TOI Debate trace the loopholes and discuss ways to plug them
One of the first impressions of a city is created by the state of its roads. Nagpur’s roads are in a poor condition and were filled with craters till a few months ago before some patchwork was done. Looking at the scenario today, Dinesh Naidu, an IT professional and founder of Parivartan Citizens Forum, reminisces the time when the roads were in “excellent” condition. “We used to boast about our roads to people from other cities,” said Naidu.
Roads are in bad shape due to corruption, stated Abhijeet Jha, Aam Aadmi Party volunteer and member of Nagpur Citizens Forum. “In the name of cement roads, what we are getting is poor quality of work,” he said.
Sanjeev Tare, founder, Ethicality Assurance Centre, pointed out that there is lopsided development in the city. “Some parts of city have cement roads while others have nothing, to say the least,” he said.
For Vinky Rughwani, a paediatrician and vice-president of Maharashtra Medical Council, the overall situation has improved over the years. “Today, we have better connectivity due to flyovers and commuting from one end to another within the city is a matter of 15 minutes,” he said, while accepting that issues like potholes need to be resolved.
When Rughwani pointed out that roads are damaged mostly on stretches where infrastructure work like flyover is undertaken, Naidu countered it by stating that potholes have formed even at other spots.
The situation is dismal in slums, as per Leena Buddhe, who runs the Centre For Sustainable Development. “There is no regulation. Deprived of government schemes, people construct houses by eating into the road width, causing congestion. Moreover, corporators get roads concretized without even bothering to create drainage system,” she said.
Taking the point forward, Jaydeep Das, banker and environmentalist, said, “Our smartness is being judged in only constructing cement roads. The fact is cement roads need more money as compared to tar roads. Now, even cement roads are requiring patchwork.”
Das also said there is some “misappropriation of money” as funds meant for other heads are being utilized in road works. “This has been happening especially in areas where majority of the population is of minority communities,” said Zafar Ahmed Khan, retired principal and president of School Headmasters Charitable Association, and added, “Had the funds not been diverted, these areas would have been developed by now.”
These are problems arising at the local level which raise the question — are people electing the right candidate or voting for just the symbol? Jagdish Prasad Sharma, former president of Vidarbha Taxpayers’ Association begs to differ. “The civic elections are fought on local issues. It is the civic authorities who are responsible for the mess,” he said and added that there is lack of cooperation from the state government.
Jha said whenever corporators are approached over the roads issue, they blame other agencies like NHAI and PWD. “It is the job of local netas to coordinate with the civic administration and ensure good roads,” he said.
Naidu said there have been many good officers. He blamed the prabhag system “which has broken the link between the corporator and people” for the issue. “The netas and the weak opposition are equally responsible,” he said. Jha interjected, “We have seen how the civic administration works. A cooler worth Rs8,000 was purchased for Rs80,000 and a pen worth Rs4 for Rs40.”
For civic elections, said Kailash Jogani, a chartered accountant and president of Nagpur Chamber of Commerce, voting should be done keeping in mind the local issues. Naidu stressed that a common man cannot contest, forget win, a local election in the prabhag system as “it requires a lot of money power”. Tare too said that people don’t care about whom they are voting for in the local election.
The other major civic facility concerning people is drinking water. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had launched the 24x7 water project in 2011, and it has not delivered what was promised. “24x7 water supply has never happened,” said Buddhe. Sharma, who stays in east Nagpur, said there is water only for half an hour in the morning and as much time in the evening.
Questioning the delay in completing the project, Das said that when Metro rail, roads and flyovers can be built at quick pace, then why not 24x7 water supply? Dr Rughwani said it was an ambitious project started after a populist decision, “but at the same time it is not so simple a project to implement”. According to Dr Rughwani, the number of water tankers has reduced. “But the project needs to be completed,” he said.
Khan pointed out that 24x7 water is something which was not promised only today. “It was there in the manifesto 40 years back too,” he said. According to Naidu, there is corruption whenever NMC starts a project. “The civic body is fooling us in the name of 24x7 and only OCW is benefitting,” he said.
Jha said the project was started only to favour the private company. “After 10 years, even the pilot project is not completed,” he said.
On NMC’s claims that it is cash starved, Jogani said the problem is with mismanagement of finances. He gave example of property tax “which the civic body is not collecting properly”. “Property assessment is not being done and tax not being calculated properly, while arrears are huge. Officers have been appointed to collect tax but maximum payment is done online,” he said, and added that illegal hoardings are cropping up and there is corruption in advertisements too.
Jogani also pointed out that NMC’s accounting system is faulty. “It should have adopted double entry system. Instead, it is using cash-based system. There is no recording of arrears,” he said.
As per Sharma, there are 8.5 lakh properties in the city but NMC records show only 4.75 lakh. He also claimed to have pointed this out to three municipal commissioners in the past. Buddhe said no action is taken against property tax defaulters. Wondering how NMC will generate revenue if properties below 500sq ft are exempt from tax, she said there are slum dwellers who have not paid tax for 20-25 years. “Decisions like tax exemption are taken with an eye on election,” she said. “Charges should be collected from everyone. There should be no freebies,” said Tare. Jha stressed if people are paying taxes honestly, it is the job of civic body to provide basic facilities.
Das agreed, saying that if the government works properly it can provide facilities at a minimal cost. Khan said he doesn’t think NMC lacks funds. “In fact, number of employees has reduced as no jobs are being created in NMC. All appointments are on contract basis and work is not being done properly,” he said.
On why NMC is not able to collect enough revenue from advertisements, Naidu said illegal hoardings should be removed so that people start paying for it.
Explaining how NMC is losing money, Sharma said the contracts are gobbled by influential netas and the actual work is done by sub-contractors. “As a result, only 20% work is done and money for rest 80% is gone,” he said.
Another major issue threatening Nagpurians is big loss of greenery over the years. “Environment plays a big role in our health. Covid has taught us a lesson. Greenery should be the priority,” said Dr Rughwani.
To put it in perspective, Das said that in 1999 there were 116 sq km under green cover but now it is just 76 sq km. “Data from 2011 to 2021 is alarming,” he said and added that trees check air pollution, noise pollution, support bird life.
Buddhe pointed out that today, the definition of development has been limited to concrete roads. “We need to focus on our green cover,” she said and claimed that the city has received Rs76 crore under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) but a top politician she spoke to had no clue about NCAP.
Jha sought to know what kind of development are we aiming for by cutting down thousands of trees. Tare observed that people interested in satisfying their egos were occupying top seats. “They have no interest in the city’s development,” he said. Sharing an interesting information, Das said some trees were chopped to create an oxygen park.
Naidu, who has supported initiatives to save trees, is in favour of balanced development. “There should be no protest for saving just one tree on the road if it is endangering motorists,” he said, and added that focus should be on compensatory plantation.
Das stressed that decentralization of urban areas is needed in a smart city. “There will only be congestion if we try to bring everything into the heart of the city,” he said.
As the discussion veered to encroachments on footpaths, Sharma said it is also the duty of people to make the city smart. “Shopkeepers themselves keep their stuff on footpath. In places like Sitabuldi, shopkeepers take charge from petty vendors to allow vending on the footpath,” said Sharma.
“Even NMC officials are involved in this illegality. Money is spent on removing encroachments which are back in no time,” said Jogani.
Khan pointed out that the city lacks hawkers’ zone. “It is promised in every election,” he said. “Non-implementation of hawker policy is a problem,” said Buddhe. Even as Nagpur received funds from Centre for Smart City project in 2016, the works done so far have been an absolute failure, Buddhe added.
