Mayor Orders Audit into River Cleaning Works Amid Corruption Charges Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has come under scrutiny as allegations of financial irregularities in its river and drain desilting projects have prompted Mayor Neeta Thakre to order a comprehensive audit. The move follows claims of large-scale corruption, favoritism in contract allocation, and collusion between contractors and civic officials. Thakre emphasized that strict action would be taken against those found guilty, while also announcing plans to adopt a policy modeled on Mumbai and Pune for the scientific use of silt and waste generated during the annual desilting process. The controversy emerged during a Question Hour session when NCP corporator Abha Pande raised concerns about the project’s management. She alleged that the NMC had engaged in corrupt practices worth crores of rupees, with contractors receiving inflated payments based on questionable measurements of silt. Pande highlighted discrepancies in official data, noting that silt removal declined from 10,175 metric tonnes in 2021 to 7,160 metric tonnes in 2023 before surging to 12,822 metric tonnes in 2025. She described the sharp increase as “suspicious” and demanded an independent audit, along with the formation of a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter. Pande further accused the NMC of billing irregularities, citing evidence that machinery usage was recorded at up to 20 hours a day—an “impractical” figure used to inflate costs. She also pointed to inadequate records of tipper movement and questioned why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) resources were not utilized for the project. Despite the expenditure of Rs 5.#nagpur_municipal_corporation #ncp #gorewada_lake #neeta_thakre #abha_pande
