Battle for Nag river

Walled up on both sides due to ever-growing construction, the river has gradually turned into a drain. Seen in this picture is Sangeeta Padole who purchased land very close to the origin of the river without knowing anything about it. Every year, during the rains, her house and surroundings get flooded

Though the river is very polluted now and is choked with industrial waste, this free stretch of the river as it passes by Punjabrao Krushi Vidyapeeth in Nagpur city serves as a reminder of what the river might have looked like once

Central Mall, a commercial complex by a prominent city builder, is another encroachment on the river’s bed. Despite numerous protests and notices by the state pollution control board, the encroachment has not been removed

The newly-constructed cemented well is believed to be one of the origins of the river. The hills that once surrounded the area have been blasted away and the low-cost land has given way to settlements. Seen in this picture is Pradhyumna Sahasrabhojanee, the man who rediscovered the origin of the river back in the 1990s

Bhonsala temples dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries still stand tall at the confluence of the Nag river with the Futala stream, near the Sitabuldi fort in Nagpur city. The stretch of the river that, according to many people was once used by the Bhonsala rulers for boat parties, now resembles a drain

Industrialists are trying to push the origin of the Nag river downstream to capture its upper stretch for real estate business. Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s lack of vision in handling the sewage dumped into the river is another problem area. The Nag and its tributaries together receive 345 million litres per day of untreated sewage within the city

The Gangabai Ghat crematorium, built near the Great Nag Road in the Nandanvan area of the city, has built an extended platform that is an encroachment on the river. Several such encroachments have gone unchallenged by the city authorities and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.

Nag river has been in the eye of a controversy for the past two years over its source of origin. While environmentalists claim the river originated in the Lava hills outside the city, industrialists have identified a dam within the city limits as the point of origin Photos: Aparna Pallavi