Nagpur marks 59th Engineers' Day, PWD chief says city floods in just 100mm rain

Engineers' Day was marked at two separate events in Nagpur this time. The local centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) celebrated the 59th Engineers' Day, while Mahavitaran's Nagpur circle office honoured its engineers on the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.

Sambhaji Mane, chief engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), was the chief guest at the Institution of Engineers event and directly questioned the city's infrastructure. He said that in several areas of the city, water logging occurs with just about 100mm of rain, which clearly shows that the infrastructure here has not been planned in a fully scientific manner. According to Mane, the lack of coordination between various government departments, engineering teams and planning agencies also needs to be addressed.

Earlier in his address, Mane said that for Nagpur to move forward on the path of sustainable development, the engineering sector needs to adopt new and emerging technologies, and pay far greater attention to research and development than before. He said that from road construction to urban planning and infrastructure development, the use of environment-friendly and modern technologies should be increased everywhere. He also added that to strengthen India's technological self-reliance, engineers need to focus on innovation, research and adopting cutting-edge technologies. This year's event had the theme "Engineering Excellence for a Sustainable and Technological Sovereign India". At the event, president Dr Sandeep Shirkhedkar delivered the welcome address, Valson Varghese spoke on the life and contribution of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, Rajesh Lambe introduced the chief guests, and Mahesh Shukla conducted the proceedings. Secretary Jayant Joshi, Prakash Kulkarni and Shrikant Doifode were also present on the dais.

At the Mahavitaran event, Rajesh Nayak (chief engineer, Nagpur circle), Amit Paranjpe (superintending engineer, regional office), Sanjay Wakde (superintending engineer, Nagpur rural division), Deepali Madelwar (superintending engineer, infrastructure department), Praful Lande (superintending engineer, city division) and Chandan Tallarwar (executive engineer, testing department) were present, along with Mahesh Jadhav, Vartika Patil, Swati Fate and Kunal Gajbhiye. Speaking on the topic "Power Station to Personal Strength", Vartika Patil shared practical ways for engineers working under round-the-clock stress to maintain balance. Sanjay Wakde said Nagpur Mahavitaran is currently going through a phase of change, and positive steps are being taken towards the company's IPO. Praful Lande told officials to stay stress-free through exercise, jogging and sports activities, and to work as a team. At the end of the event, Rajesh Nayak felicitated engineers and teams who had performed well over the year with citations.