Nagpur’s Gorewada Lake faces sewage inflow as drinking-water reserves decline

Sewage continues to flow into Gorewada Lake, a potential emergency source of drinking water for Nagpur, according to a spot inspection reported by The Times of India on Monday, October 19.

The report raises questions about the action taken by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to address concerns over wastewater entering the lake, particularly as the city’s main water reservoirs record lower storage levels ahead of summer 2027.

A spot check on Sunday, October 18, found wastewater flowing towards the lake. Plastic and other domestic waste were also visible in the drainage channel carrying sewage into the waterbody.

The issue has previously been raised with municipal and environmental authorities.

On June 23, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court directed the NMC to decide within six weeks on a representation seeking urgent measures to protect and restore the lake. The civic body was also directed to communicate its decision to the petitioner within two weeks, reported The Times of India.

The public-interest litigation was disposed of without the court adjudicating the underlying pollution allegations. The latest inspection has therefore raised questions about the measures subsequently taken by the civic administration.

The NMC has maintained that Gorewada Lake is an emergency backup source and that water drawn from it is treated before being supplied to consumers.

The concerns come as water levels in Nagpur’s major reservoirs decline. According to the Water Resources Department, the combined live storage of five key reservoirs, including Totladoh, Kamthi Khairy, Khindsi, Nand and Wadgaon, stood at 699.42 million cubic metres.

Totladoh, a major source of Nagpur’s drinking water, held 433.11 million cubic metres on October 18, equivalent to 42.59 per cent of its designed live storage capacity of 1,016.93 million cubic metres. On the corresponding date in 2025, the reservoir stood at 98.76 per cent of capacity.

With the six districts in Nagpur division declared drought-affected, protecting available water sources has become more important ahead of summer 2027.

The latest report calls for the civic body to clarify what action followed the court-directed decision process, whether the source of the sewage has been conclusively identified and what the latest laboratory tests show about the lake’s water quality.

The continued sewage inflow presents an environmental concern. However, the reported inspection does not itself establish that water supplied to consumers has been contaminated.