Crores Spent On Desilting Nullahs Go Down Drain, City Sinks Every Monsoon Every year before the monsoon season, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) undertakes a large-scale desilting and river-cleaning initiative, promising to improve stormwater flow and reduce flooding. However, for the fourth consecutive year, the city faced severe inundation after heavy rainfall, raising questions about the effectiveness of these efforts. The recurring floods have brought scrutiny to the NMC’s workshop department, which oversees mechanised river rejuvenation projects. According to RTI documents accessed by The Times of India, the workshop department spent 9.82 crore rupees between 2022 and 2026 on river rejuvenation. Of this, 8.19 crore was allocated for hiring heavy machinery, while 1.63 crore was spent on fuel for NMC-owned long-boom excavators. The budget for river cleaning has steadily increased over the years, rising from 99 lakh in 2022-23 to 8 crore in 2025-26. For 2026-27, the civic body has allocated 9 crore, with 4.96 crore earmarked for cleaning the Nag, Pili, and Pora rivers. The July 28 cloudburst-like rainfall exacerbated the city’s vulnerability, submerging hundreds of homes, turning roads into streams, and submerging vehicles. Thousands of schoolchildren had to be rescued as low-lying areas remained underwater despite the annual pre-monsoon desilting drive. RTI replies to activist Abhay Kolarkar revealed that mechanised river-cleaning costs surged, with machine hiring expenses jumping from 2.89 crore in 2024 to 5.30 crore in 2025. Contracts were awarded to firms such as Markstate Pvt Ltd, Vikas Bhasin, M M Engineering Works, and Manwar Construction. Fuel costs for NMC-owned machinery totaled 1.#the_times_of_india #nagpur_municipal_corporation #abhay_kolarkar #markstate_pvt_ltd #vikas_bhasin
