Nagpur: Even before the monsoon makes its landing complete, the sewerage system, it seems, collapsed at least in two busy zones of the city, Laxmi Nagar and Mangalwari zones, under the civic body jurisdiction.
As per Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s grievance redressal app – Nagpur Live City, the NMC is flooded with complaints of overflowing sewage and choked lines in Laxmi Nagar with 6,166 complaints and 6,362 in Mangalwari zones.
Of these, a cumulative 4,275 complaints are related to the public health engineering department only.
Data revealed that the two zones have also registered more complaints pertaining to solid waste management, Mangalwari zone (1,457) and Laxmi Nagar (1,355).
The problems in the two zones are becoming chronic due to choked sewerage lines as complaints pertaining to contamination of wells are on the rise.
The then municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe had launched the Nagpur Live City app in 2020.
Every registered complaint is forwarded to the department concerned for necessary action and post an update.
Since then, the dashboard shows that the NMC has received as many as 39,128 complaints about various civic amenities.
The highest number of complaints (13,451) related to choked sewerage, followed by solid waste management or irregular lifting of garbage (7,817).
The data also revealed that 3,409 complaints about streetlights and 2,723 are encroachments cases across the city apart from those about bad roads.
Even stray cattle and dog menace increased in the city, as reflected in the app.
The veterinary department, which looks after stray cattle and dogs, received 2,483 complaints.
Ill-maintenance of gardens by the NMC saw registration of 1,509 complaints on the app.
The NMC claimed to have promptly resolved over 90% grievances registered on the Nagpur Live City app.
Citizens, however, differ.
Mohan Thakre, a resident of Gaddigodam, said he had lodged a complaint pertaining to a damaged road.
The following day, he was notified that the complaint was forwarded to the junior engineer Mangalwari zone and action had been taken.
But nothing changed and the road was still the same, he alleged.
A Nandanwan resident Rahul Lokhande complained about the damaged sewer line.
Two days later, he received a message that the problem had been resolved.
But it was never attended to, Lokhande said.
So, he registered a complaint again, and four more times.
“Each time, the complaint was promptly closed with the notification: ‘Action taken’ and each time, the overflowing of the sewerage line remained as it is,” he said.
He further said, “The zone office has not taken any cognizance of my complaint so far.
Finally, the local residents pooled in money and got the sewer line repaired.”