Nagpur: Despite the Nagpur Municipal Corporation's (NMC) repeated assertions that the city has sufficient drinking water from the Pench and Kanhan rivers, the civic body has issued fresh tenders worth over Rs 24 lakh for cleaning and repairing public wells in three zones: Satranjipura, Dhantoli, and Hudkeshwar-Narsala. This move has raised questions about the necessity of recurring expenditure on groundwater sources.
Tender Details and Scope of Work
The tenders, floated by NMC's Public Health Engineering Department, include dewatering, desilting, cleaning, repair works, and installation of information boards at multiple public wells. The corporation has consistently assured citizens that Nagpur receives nearly 765 million liters per day (MLD) from surface sources and faces no major drinking water shortage.
Executive engineer Shrikant Waikar stated that NMC plans to clean 352 wells in the coming days, and the three tenders are part of this annual exercise. "It is an annual exercise carried out before the summer and monsoon seasons," he clarified.
Previous Expenditure and Concerns
Civic records from previous years show expenditure exceeding Rs 1.24 crore on cleaning hundreds of public wells across the city. Despite repeated desilting drives, several wells reportedly remained neglected, while some appeared repeatedly in successive contracts. Recently, the corporation also approved additional expenditure running into crores for cleaning more wells under groundwater management and summer preparedness measures. Officials justified the move by claiming that traditional water sources needed revival to support emergency water availability during extreme summer months.
Critics and civic observers have termed the decision contradictory, questioning whether the wells are genuinely required for potable use or are merely becoming recurring maintenance liabilities funded by taxpayers.
Contamination Issues Flagged by NEERI
An earlier study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) flagged contamination concerns in many public wells. The report found that sewage infiltration caused by leaking underground sewer pipelines and damaged drainage infrastructure polluted groundwater in several locations, rendering the water unsafe for drinking.
Environmental experts argue that the real issue lies not in silt accumulation alone but in the failure to scientifically address sewage leakage and groundwater contamination. According to them, repeated desilting without repairing underground sewer networks offers only cosmetic improvement, while the primary pollution source remains active.
Lack of Transparency in Latest Tenders
The latest tender notice has raised concerns because it does not disclose the names, exact locations, or contamination status of the wells proposed for cleaning. The absence of public data has fueled suspicion over whether the same wells are again being included in annual contracts.
Questions are also being raised over NMC's spending priorities, as several parts of the city continue grappling with erratic water distribution, polluted lakes, overflowing drains, and poor sanitation infrastructure.
Key Statistics
- Total public wells in Nagpur: 849
- Wells cleaned between 2022 and 2025: 464
- Wells earlier reported unclean: 385
- Wells proposed for cleaning under fresh citywide plan: 352
- Latest tenders floated: 3 works
- Zones covered: Satranjipura, Dhantoli, Hudkeshwar-Narsala
- Estimated cost of latest tenders: Rs 24.05 lakh
- Daily water draw from Pench and Kanhan: Approximately 765 MLD
- Major issue flagged by NEERI: Sewage contamination due to leaking underground sewer lines
- Nature of work in latest tenders: Dewatering, desilting, repairs, and installation of information boards
