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PREAMBLE

Nagpur city is the 13th largest urban conglomeration in India, with a population of 25 lakhs. Along with being the Winter Capital of the state of Maharashtra it is also well known for its significant place in the political and as a geographical center of the entire country of India. With the city being the next most favored IT destination and the proposals for an upcoming International Cargo Hub, the city of Nagpur is slated for large scale developments.

The city of Nagpur sits at the centre of some very rich bio diverse regions, being surrounded by national parks and ecologically rich regions. Thus it forms an important Biodiversity link between these regions, with the green zones within the city and especially along the river banks, serving as Biodiversity Corridors for the fauna and avifauna of the region.

The city boasts of many prestigious educational institutions and has nurtured academic talent of very high caliber. As a matter of fact even the development plans, past and present indicate the importance of such Institutions through large land uses allotted for the purpose of Academic and Research Institutions.

Though the old city core has high density development there is a lot of potential to conserve and enhance the natural environment of the city. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has taken the initiative to map, and document all the natural resources including the lakes and rivers of the city. Immense efforts are being put towards the institutionalization for   the conservation of environment of the region. It is with this objective that the Nagpur Municipal Corporation has put forth this proposal for the rejuvenation of one of its most important and prominent river which flows through the main city.

During earlier times of the establishment and development of the city of Nagpur, water bodies were designed as significant elements of the city; serving as water storage tanks as well as for recreation. Some of these also had religious significance and are even today associated with temples alongside their banks.

Nagpur being a city with extreme climate, it experiences extremely hot summers and a moderate rainfall. Hence water bodies played a major role, not only as water collectors but also in equating the temperatures. They hence enjoyed significant positions within the city fabric and had a close relationship to the people and their settlements.

However, today the attitude towards these water bodies is changing. Water supply has been augmented from other sources outside the city limits and the lakes have remained as mere storage tanks. Also the lakes within the cities which served as centers of religious and recreational importance today remain as mere elements in the city. With the changing lifestyles and technological advances, people are today looking towards other sources of recreation and entertainment. In this scenario with increasing population and ever increasing demand for recreation; the water bodies like Phutala, Ambazari Lake could serve the purpose. Citizen would get better amenities if such waterbodies are maintained and enhance. This in turn would also help the waterbody to be socially accepted and taken care by the people.

Water is the lifeline of any city or a region on which its economy and life depends. In the past the success of a city was measured by the amount of water it would supply for the various uses. Successful cities have been those, which have been able to, ensure continuous water supply to its citizens. Cities are a mosaic of different land uses both agrarian and non-agrarian and biotic and abiotic components all of which are dependent on one basic resource called water for their survival.

Water bodies are of especial importance in the urban context. Not only do they add to the aesthetics of the landscape, they also support a rich and varied type of ecosystem, providing huge scope for nature awareness and education and adding significant premium to the land. Besides the water bodies themselves, their Wetlands (that is the marshes, swamps and other areas between dry land and lake edges or river banks) are vital for survival of biodiversity. The wetlands also function as natural tubs or sponges, storing floodwater and slowly releasing it. This combined action, storage and slow release can lower flood heights and reduce the erosive potential of water and thereby helping to control increases in the rate and volume of runoff from urban areas. Wetlands also improve water quality, including that of drinking water, by intercepting surface runoff and removing or retaining its nutrients, processing organic wastes, and trapping loads of sediments before they reaches open water.

The financial impacts of water management can be related to information on shore property and businesses, the estimated size of the user population and regional economic impacts. Assembling information on the economic significance of lakes will help local officials make appropriate decisions regarding lakes and their watersheds.

Education is another important lake management tool. Data collection, analysis and presentation should be done so that it is understandable to all who may participate in lake management activities.

Conservation and restoration of all our water resources requires an integrated development approach. The management of sewerage, storm water and solid waste management becomes primarily important for any integrated management planning undertaken for cities.

Rejuvenation of Lakes and River in Nagpur City

Introduction- Nagpur is a city in the central part of India. In Maharashtra State. Nagpur district is located between 21*45 N to 20*30 N and 78*15 E to 79*45 E. The adjoining districts are Bhandara on the east, Chandrapur on the south, Amravati and Wardha on the west and in the north shares the boundary with Madhya Pradesh. The Nagpur district is located in the Deccan Plateau region of Maharashtra.

Nagpur city is the 13th largest urban conglomeration in India, with a population of 3.5 million (2005 EST.).The city of Nagpur sits at the centre of some very rich biodiverse regions, being surrounded by national parks and ecologically rich regions. Thus it forms an important Biodiversity link between these regions, with the green zones within the city serving as Biodiversity Corridors for the flora, fauna and also avifauna of the region.           

With the intense and rapid urban development in Nagpur, the city is showing signs of environmental depletion and degradation. Not only the rich water resources but the entire natural landscape with the precious ecosystems is facing the brunt of the rapid urbanization. The environmental balance of the systems has been disturbed and the environmental corridors are disjointed. The temperatures within the city are rising day by day. In the wake of this future growth of the city and the rise in developments and populations it is imperative to understand the ecology of the region particularly the water bodies and their natural systems. The current status of the city, in terms of its environment and the needs of the expanding developments needs to be addressed. It requires an integrated approach towards planning, wherein the development and ecology go hand in hand; through an optimal utilization of resources.

Aims and Objective- The main objective of this proposal is to restore and revive the water resources within the city. This would be done with a two fold agenda. The first one is to revive and restore the ecological balance of the water bodies to ensure their health and sustenance. The second is to reconnect the city and its people to these water resources through appropriate water front development and introduction of activities; in order to give increased opportunities to the people to interact with the water resources and restore their faith in them.

The study proposal looks at an integrated development plan for the rejuvenation of the water bodies in the city of Nagpur. Though the study deals with essentially the water bodies in the city, namely the lakes and the rivers; it addresses the overall ecological concerns of the city through a holistic approach to planning based upon a detailed study of the water bodies and their interrelationships to the environmental systems.

The city of Nagpur is blessed with a number of lakes, namely;

• Gorewada
• Futala,
• Ambazari
• Sonegaon ,
• Sakkardara ,
• Gandhisagar ,
• Lendi Talao,
• Naik Talao ,
• Dobe talao,
• Pandrabodi ,
• Sanjay Nagar Khadan
• Pardi Lake.

All the lakes are manmade either by damming the water streams and rivers or by constructing tanks. Throughout history they served as important water resources for the city, not only as water storage tanks for the extreme dry summers, but also as recreational areas, religious centers and for regulating temperatures. They hence enjoyed significant positions within the city fabric and had a close relationship to the people and their settlements.

However today, all the lakes in the city have been influenced by the developments in the city and have been observed to be in various stages of deterioration. Though developments have affected the lakes and their catchments throughout the city, the nature of their impacts are greatly influenced by the natural and unique characteristics of the lakes and their catchment areas. This has also been taken into consideration.

During their revival and development of these lakes. The methodology for the study includes a detailed study of the intrinsic and existing environmental conditions of the region in order to establish the current ecological status of the city and its water bodies. This is done through study and mapping of various components of ecology like physiography, landform, this is done through study and mapping of various components of ecology like physiography, landform, slope, vegetation, hydrology, watershed, etc. In addition to this macro level as well as micro level studies were carried out in order to understand the developmental condition and their impacts on the water bodies.

The city of Nagpur has three major rivers passing through it, determined by the physiographic character into three major watersheds-The Northern watershed comprising of the PILI River, the central watershed Namely; Comprising of the historical NAG River and the southern watershed draining into the PORA River. Rivers being not static bodies of water, but dynamic systems are constantly being influenced and altered by the surrounding area with which they interact. The rivers of Nagpur city are showing considerable signs of disturbance in their natural ecological balance and a degradation of the river basins and Catchment areas. Any measures along the river will need to address developmental issues as well as issues Regarding the environmental condition and long term sustainability of the rivers.

This has also been taken into consideration during their rejuvenation and development of these rivers. The methodology for the study includes a detailed study of the intrinsic and existing environmental conditions of the region in order to establish the current ecological status of the city and its water bodies.

This is done through study and mapping of various components of ecology like physiography, landform, slope, vegetation, hydrology, watershed, etc. In addition to this macro level as well as micro level studies were carried out in order to understand the developmental condition and their impacts on the water bodies. The study is based upon primary as well as secondary data, acquired from respective agencies and Extensive surveys on site.

Conservation and restoration of the water resources requires an integrated development approach. The management of sewerage, storm water and solid waste management becomes primarily important for any integrated management planning undertaken for cities. Management becomes primarily important for any integrated management planning undertaken for cities. The proposals take into consideration the entire ecosystem, which forms the watershed for the catchments it contains and the rivers and streams that flow through them. When the conservation of water is integrated with recreational, amenity and environmental awareness, it creates expanded opportunities for the social uses of open space, providing greater diversity for learning and awareness of the continuum of natural events.

The main objective of the proposals is towards ‘Building a positive attitude to the water fronts’, through Reviving the faith and value for all water resources that we have had since generations

Conservation and Enhancement of all the water courses and water bodies Restoration and Enhancement of all the eco-sensitive zones that have had good biodiversity

Maximizing on conservation, percolation and retention of rain water Design concepts and strategies have been evolved after research and documentation of the various aspects

Design concepts and strategies have been evolved after research and documentation of the various aspects of the natural resources versus the existing and future trends of growth of the city. These address issues of ecological restoration, sustainability and water conservation as well as creating interactive public spaces for the city.

The Environmental Management Plan for the rivers includes general guidelines and recommendations along the entire stretch of the river, in order to protect and conserve it in a natural state and to maintain its ecological balance. The project also identifies the river as an important biodiversity corridor and restoration of the river will help in establishing this vital link in the regional context of the city. In addition to this, nodes have been identified along the river stretches for Pili River, Phutala nala and Nag River for development. These have been identified based on factors such as ecological status, ownership pattern, heritage value, religious values, land use and activity pattern, aesthetic quality and scope for development as public activity nodes.

Presently 2 lakes have been shortlisted and amount sanctioned by Ministry of Environment Govt of Maharashtra to Nagpur Municipal Corporation for Sonegaon Lake is 3.24 cr and Ist installment released is 63 lac. for Phase 1 out of which grant received is 13 lakhs

 and 1.78 cr for Gandhi Sagar Lake and 75 lac. released for Phase 1.

For Sonegaon Lake and Gandhi Sagar Lake, Project Management Consultant M/s Monarch Surveyors Limited, Pune has been appointed followed by M/s R.M. Goplani has been appointed as a Contractor for Commissioning of Rejuvenation of Lakes and River Project for Gandhi Sagar and Sonegaon lake.

And recently the meeting held at Ministry of Environment on 16^th of July 2011 at MANTRALAYA GOM, Pandrabodi Lake has been cleared and proposal for Nag River has already being submitted to National River Conservation Prorgamme,(NRCP),MOEF for further approval.    

2. PROJECT PROPOSAL:

The river Nag and its tributaries originate within the city limits of Nagpur city and flow through the main city for a major part of their course. It is within this section itself that the river is majorly polluted essentially due to the influence of developments along its course. This further affects the downstream areas due to contaminated water flowing through the rivers.

Considering the current status of the Nag River and its tributaries, the restoration of the river would require the following components to be designed and implemented:

1)    Storm Water Drainage system

2)    Sewerage system

3)    Abatement of point sources of pollution

4)    River Front Development

Out of the above mentioned components, studies have been carried out and detailed project reports and proposals have been drafted for the components of Storm Water Drainage system and Sewerage system. Grants and funding for the same would be acquired from schemes like the JnNURM, etc.