Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) has come under fire from the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) for allegedly invading its land in Gokulpeth Market with the intention of building a multi-level parking structure.
Chairman of NIT Manoj Kumar Suryawanshi stated that NIT would shortly send a notice to NSSCDCL ordering it to halt development at the site. He asserted that NSSCDCL did not ask NIT for permission before building the multi-level parking in Gokulpeth. When asked about the progress of NIT’s multi-storeyed business complex planned for the Gokulpeth site in conjunction with Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Suryawanshi confirmed the organization’s position.
The NIT Chairman alleged that NIT was unaware that multi-level parking was being built on their property at Gokulpeth Market. The Zonal Office of Executive Engineer, West Region, of the NIT is headquartered in the building in Gokulpeth itself, which contradicts the NIT boss’s claim. The multi-level parking lot is very next to the NIT’s office, thus it’s strange that the Chairman claimed not to be aware of the NSSCDCL’s proposal. It reveals lax agency oversight or a conscious decision to ignore the project.
The site of the multi-level parking plaza is in a prominent area of the city, yet NIT officials were not aware that it was being built there. This raises a red flag of suspicion against them.
The Chairman informed the media that he has signed on the notice to be served on NSSCDCL directing the latter to immediately stop the ongoing construction and vacate the site. However, no time frame has been provided for removing the already erected iron pillars at the site, he added.
What makes the matter further intriguing is the fact that NIT is one of the stakeholders in NSSCDCL. So the stance of the NIT Chairman about not knowing about the multi-level parking plan at Gokulpeth market seems quite surprising. This is so as parking plans have been in the public domain since long. A visit to the site on Wednesday revealed that already much money has been put into putting up basic structure at the site by the contractor named by NSSCDCL. So who’s going to be responsible for wastage of public money as now NSSCDCL would need to pull down the iron structure The traders in Gokulpeth market said that the contractor working on a multi- level parking plaza had excavated the ground. The excavated earth remained dumped at Gokulpeth vegetable market, just behind the NIT’s building on West High Court Road, which caused much trouble to visitors and citizens.
Traders at NIT building asked to vacate within three days. Nagpur Improvement Trust spooked the traders at Gokulpeth market as it had directed them to vacate their shops within three days. The notice was served to more than 70 shopkeepers having valid lease deeds on Wednesday itself. This evoked sharp reactions from the shopkeepers. The traders said that the notice, bearing signature of Executive Officer, NIT, claims that since the building on WHC is in dilapidated state, to avoid any loss of lives and property, the traders should immediately vacate it.