Ambazari Lake: NMC's Eichhornia Removal Raises Questions Over Disposal and Costs
Nagpur, India: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) successfully tackled the issue of Eichhornia infestation at Ambazari Lake by conducting a four-month operation, and the entire effort costs Rs 4,84,200.
However, it seems there’s more to the story, as information obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows no record of where the large amount of Eichhornia was disposed of.
The civic body began efforts to clear Ambazari Lake of Eichhornia on August 1, following concerns raised by environmentalists over the lake’s deterioration. The NMC’s Solid Waste Department was assigned to remove the weed, using excavators and dump trucks.
The excavators were positioned along the garden area by the lake’s banks, which provided essential support for the heavy machinery to drag and remove the weeds. The usual practice was to let the weeds dry on the banks after being pulled from the lake.
Afterward, the dried Eichhornia was loaded into dump trucks for disposal. However, the NMC has not provided any details on where it was dumped, said Pramod Pande.
Pande requested details from the NMC about where the Eichhornia was disposed of, but officials remained silent on the matter. The records provided to Pande only included the daily weight of Eichhornia removed from Ambazari Lake.
The NMC enlisted two waste collection agencies, AG Enviro and BVG, to handle the disposal of the Eichhornia. However, their reluctance to disclose the disposal location adds to the mystery of why this information is being kept from the public.
The daily log kept by the Records Department of the Solid Waste Department shows that, on average, four to five trips were made to remove the waste. However, the fact that the total expenditure incurred by the NMC remained under Rs 5 lakhs suggests something unusual.
