Civic body to plug waterlogging

PUNE: Inundated streets with muck and water gushing into every house, this is what monsoon holds for people staying in the low-lying areas of the city every year. However, this may change in the coming years, provided Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has its way.
The civic body has come up with a 'Stormwater Drainage Project for Frequently Flooding Areas' after a proposal for the same was approved by the standing committee recently.
As a part of the project, which will be carried out in two sections, the civic body will identify the flood-prone areas based on the 23 basins which the city has been divided into. "The works will be completed in 18 months, following which the contractors will be responsible for the maintenance works for the next five years. PMC will spend over Rs 115 crore on the project," the civic body said.
The proposal submitted to the standing committee had stated: "The normal rainfall for the city has been around 722mm. However, it has been receiving an average rainfall of 1,000mm rainfall since 2005. The areas around Ahmednagar Road had witnessed heavy showers in November 1995, which had caused major flooding in places like Kalas, Dhanori, Vimannagar, Lohegaon, Tingrenagar and Vishrantwadi. The situation was so bad that in some areas it took days altogether for the rainwater to recede, causing a huge loss to property among others. To ensure that such situations do not occur, the project has been planned."
Over the years, civic activists have blamed PMC for poor management of storm water, causing floods in the city. "Failure to clear stormwater channels ahead of the monsoon along with encroachments on the drainage lines lead to choking of rainwater. This leads to instances of accumulation of rainwater on roads and, in extreme cases, gushing of the muck-filled water into several housing societies," they alleged.
"The stormwater drainage project will help to solve the long-pending problem of flooding in different areas of the city. It will also lead to better management of traffic during rains," said Balasaheb Bodke, chairman of the standing committee.
As per the civic body officials, there are over 500km of stormwater drainage lines spread across the city. "The ward offices, which schedule the pre-monsoon works, do not have enough time to complete the cleaning process, ensuring free flow of rainwater this monsoon, they said.
"The whole draining system and nullahs in these areas will undergo a complete makeover under the project. Once the project is completed, which will take around 18 months, frequent flooding will be a thing of the past in the identified areas," said a senior civic official. However, he said, the project may not bring immediate relief. "It will take couple of years before its impact is visible," he added.
Dumping of debris is yet another problem which leads to flooding. About 100-150 tonnes of debris, including concrete, bricks, cement plaster and iron, is generated in Pune every day.
For a while now, experts and activists have demanded that the construction waste be recycled. Taking cognizance of these demands, efforts have been made to recycle construction waste. "The construction debris often chokes nullahs. The scientific disposal of the waste will ensure free flow of these water bodies," the PMC officials added.
As per these people, the unscientific disposal of debris is leading to further problems. It is causing problems to the nullahs.
Besides the poor drainage system, the road digging works are likely to add to the worries of citizens. Around 450km of roads were dug up for works, including concreting, laying telecom, internet and electricity cables and gas pipelines.
PMC officials said the civic body received proposals to dig up 925km of roads in 2015-16. For the financial year 2016-17, the road department has kept a budget of Rs 421 crore, which is being spent on re-tarring 400km of roads.