VMC Fines Sigra Stadium Agency ₹10 Lakh, Orders Drainage Master Plan for New Areas

The Varanasi Municipal Corporation has imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on the agency building the Sigra stadium for unnecessary delay, served it a notice and given it a final warning to finish the work within a month.

The action came at a review of municipal works chaired by Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari, with Municipal Commissioner Himanshu Nagpal. Both took a hard line on projects moving slowly, and the meeting also ordered strict action against the contractor handling construction at the Ghoda Aspatal (horse hospital) campus over negligence.

The same meeting set in motion a drainage master plan for the city's newly added urban areas. The municipal corporation wants a permanent answer to the waterlogging that residents of both the new and old city face, in the monsoon and outside it.

Nariya was singled out. Water flowing down from BHU collects in Nariya and nearby localities, and the meeting directed officials to quickly assess how much water the Assi drain can carry and get it cleaned so that the flow can be disposed of permanently.

For the 10 wards where water is still standing, the order was to install extra pumps according to local need and drain them immediately.

Reviewing the Soniya talab project, the meeting directed that Jal Nigam be given suitable land to build an overhead tank.

The Mayor expressed strong displeasure that CCTV cameras had not been installed in the wards to monitor sewer and drinking water works.

Housing came up too. Officials were told to speed up construction of the flats and the women's housing coming up in Mahmoorganj so that allotment can begin soon. The meeting said the allotment of houses to the poor must be fully transparent, and if an eligible applicant's application is rejected, a clear, concrete and valid reason must be recorded in the files so that no poor applicant is treated unfairly.

On sanitation, the meeting took note of complaints coming in on social media and directed all sanitary and food inspectors (SFIs) to ensure thorough cleaning in their areas.

A plantation drive was also reviewed. More than 13,000 saplings are being planted, including 2,500 at BHU and 1,700 at Banaras Locomotive Works. The Mayor ordered that all saplings be geo-tagged immediately and protected with tree guards.

The meeting also directed that tender processes for development works in sewa bastis be completed quickly so that work can begin, and that street lighting be put right.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Durgesh Mishra, Joint Municipal Commissioner Krishna Chandra, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Anil Yadav, Chief Engineer Suresh Chandra, Jalkal general manager Anoop Singh and officials of Jalkal and the construction agencies attended.

The penalty on the stadium agency is the clearest signal from the meeting. The executing agency now has a month, under notice, to complete the work, and the corporation has made it plain that the deadline is final. The drainage master plan and the Assi drain assessment will take longer, but for residents of Nariya, the Assi drain study is the part to watch in the weeks ahead.