Officials draw HC ire over delays in Ambazari dam, Nag River project

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday slammed state agencies over prolonged delays in the Ambazari dam repair and Nag River rejuvenation projects. Taking serious note of the inaction, the court summoned senior officials and warned of possible contempt proceedings and scrutiny into the tendering process.

A division bench comprising Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi directed the divisional commissioner, Nagpur municipal commissioner, and Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) executive director to appear in person at 10.30am on Thursday. The officers were instructed to submit detailed affidavits on the current status of both projects.

The court expressed strong dissatisfaction with VIDC over the lack of progress in constructing Godbole gates at Ambazari dam. Despite floating tenders four to five times, the agency reported that no bids were received — something not disclosed during earlier hearings. The bench questioned why internal mechanisms were not activated to proceed with the work despite repeated tender failures and criticised the agency for lack of transparency.

"You want the same deluge to occur again? Are your officers asleep all these days?" the bench verbally remarked, in reference to the devastating floods of September 23, 2023. The judges further questioned, "Why was the work not expedited over the last two months, and with whom are the files currently pending?"

The court also scrutinised the role of the divisional commissioner who heads a court-appointed committee overseeing the removal of river encroachments and flood mitigation efforts. Government Pleader Deven Chauhan was directed to identify the officer allegedly responsible for delaying the files related to the Nag River retention wall project.

The bench warned VIDC of a possible deeper investigation into the tendering process, suggesting there may have been irregularities. "Are you at the mercy of contractors? Why hasn't the agency acted promptly?" the court asked.

The bench warned VIDC that it may be compelled to "open a Pandora's box" into how tenders are being awarded to the contractors. The judges referred to past cases where tenders were allegedly granted within a day under questionable circumstances, implying that transparency and procedural integrity were being compromised.

These directives were issued during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Ramgopal Bachuka and others, represented by advocate Tushar Mandlekar.

In an earlier affidavit, the divisional commissioner had informed the court that desilting work was underway across the Nag, Pili, and Pohra rivers. The state government has sanctioned Rs304 crore for river and nullah development, with tenders floated and some initial work already begun.

The state also outlined its progress on infrastructure upgrades. Desilting commenced on February 6 and is scheduled for completion by June 15, 2025. The work covers 16.58 km of the Nag River, 17.42 km of the Pili river, and 15.17 km of the Pohra River. Photographic evidence of the ongoing work was submitted to the court.

The affidavit further noted that 1 km of retaining wall has been completed along Nag River, with an additional 0.662km currently under construction. The irrigation department also reported the dewatering of 32.06 crore litres from Ambazari lake as a flood prevention measure.