The effectiveness of pre-monsoon work undertaken by any civic body determines the severity of flooding in the city. Take Pune, for example; it has several drains that flow into the city rivers. However, these drains encounter problems due to waste dumping, including household waste, which narrows and fills them with silt, reducing their capacity to drain water effectively during the monsoon.
To tackle this, the drainage department of the Pune Municipal Corporation annually cleans all city drains to prevent flooding. This work includes cleaning of drainage lines, stormwater drains, drainage chambers, and nullahs before the monsoon season. Delays and shoddy/incomplete work over the past few years have resulted in waterlogging during the monsoon.
May 15 deadlines comes near
This year, the civic body has set a deadline of May 15 and had promised to complete 80 percent of the work by May 15. However, two days of rains revealed the sorry state of work done by the contractors, as severe waterlogging was reported in several parts of the city.
Along with it, several incidents of tree falling and uprooting were also reported in the city. From May 1 to May 10, 91 trees fell within the PMC's jurisdiction.
Last week, while speaking with the Free Press Journal, Dinkar Gojare, head of the drainage department at PMC, stated that cleaning of sewage and drainage pipelines started on March 26.
"Our target is to clean up all priority works such as stagnation, crucial culverts, and important stretches where we can remove the waste. We have prepared a plan and listed down the spots, providing it to the responsible contractors and staff to work on it day-wise," he added.
He also assured that 80 percent of the work will be finished by May 15, and minor issues will be resolved by May 30.
However, just five days ahead of the civic body's deadline, the city reported severe waterlogging, with manholes and nullahs being reported as choked.
