Nagpur Municipal Corporation warehouses scrap in its building’s basement parking

Nagpur: It is the responsibility of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to take action against illegal use of the basement parking area but it rarely takes any action. The civic body has now been captured, flouting its own rules, storing scrap in the lower basement parking lot of its new administrative building in Civil Lines.

Although the building has been in use for the past seven years, it still has to secure fire enforcement and occupancy certificates, which are also major violations under the own rules of the civic body.

The seven-story building has lower and upper basement parking spaces. The lower basement has been in use for two-wheelers since 2014. Four-wheelers are to be stored in the lower basement but have not been in use until recently. Tukaram Mundhe, soon after taking charge on January 28, was angry at the sprawling premises in front of the building over haphazard parking of cars by employees and tourists.

The NMC engineers then labeled parking lots and initiated action in no-parking areas against the vehicles. Parking in the lower basement area has begun too. Several NMC employees and tourists a few days ago informed about the poor condition of the lower basement car park. Several old cupboards, chairs, tables, hand-carts, etc. have been found discarded in the parking basement. While the departments were moving from old to new buildings, some department workers had deposited the scrap there.

Sewage water on high voltage electrical cables packed in a case attached to the ceiling was found leaking from a damaged pipeline. A stinking smell was sent out by puddles of black-colored sewage water as well as scrap. The poor lighting system in the basement contributed to the problems. There is also just one ramp for vehicles entering and exiting. Cars parked by a couple of officials covered nearly half the ramp.

Due to the scrap and sewage water, parking and moving around vehicles became an issue. In the absence of a lift, people have to use the staircase. scrap and sewage pictures to Mundhe in the lower basement car park. According to officials at NMC, Mundhe immediately instructed the engineers to clean basement parking, and the work began.

Stopping the sewage flow will take some time. Fire systems have been activated and the appropriate organization is awaiting the B-certificate. Certificate of occupation will be issued after the certificate of fire enforcement, they said.

In 2002 the building was built at the cost of crore Rs17.99. Construction began in 2003 but had missed the 2004 deadline. Until 2013 only the ground floor had been completed. Price had risen to Rs57 crore till then.

The then municipal commissioner Shyam Wardhane and the additional municipal commissioner Hemant Kumar Pawar moved their offices to the ground floor to allow the officials to speed up work. The building has been phased into use.