Strong Response To Water Bill Grievance Camps; 559 Complaints Resolved On Day 1

Nagpur: Grievance redressal camps organised to address complaints related to inflated and excessive water bills received an encouraging response on the very first day, with 559 complaints resolved across five zones.The initiative was launched by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation's (NMC) water works department in collaboration with Orange City Water (OCW), following a surge in complaints from consumers over unusually high billing. TOI was the first to report that over 25,000 consumers received exorbitant bills.Though the two-day special camps started on Monday, the water works department miserably failed to communicate the initiative to many corporators.Zone-wise data revealed that Ashi Nagar recorded the highest number of complaints at 295, followed by Satranjipura (155), Gandhibagh (77), Laxmi Nagar (29), and Hanuman Nagar (3).The camps are being conducted under the directives of Mayor Neeta Thakre, with oversight from standing committee chairperson Shivani Dani Wakhare, ruling party leader Narendra ‘Balya' Borkar, and water supply special committee chairperson Divya Dhurde. The exercise is being carried out under the guidance of municipal commissioner Dr Vipin Itankar.Senior officials, including superintendent engineer Shweta Banerjee and executive engineer Shrikant Waikar, are supervising the on-ground implementation.Encouraged by the response, the civic body will organise similar camps in the second phase across five more zones — Dharampeth, Dhantoli, Nehru Nagar, Lakadganj and Mangalwari — on April 22 and 23, between 10.30 am and 5 pm.Officials have urged residents with billing issues to attend the camps and seek timely resolution.