Pune: The PMC plans to tackle at least 65 out of 120 flood-prone spots by implementing various measures before June, as part of pre-monsoon works to avoid waterlogging. For the remaining spots, the civic administration has said it will make temporary arrangements to avoid waterlogging during heavy spells of rain.Officials from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said that the pre-monsoon works are underway on various fronts. With around a month left for the monsoon to set in, works have been expedited. However, it is once again impossible that the civic body will meet its deadline of April-end, with only around 40% of nullah and stormwater channel cleaning works done till date. Now, civic officials have said they aim to finish the rest by mid-May.In a meeting in March, Pune mayor Manjusha Nagpure had asked PMC to finish all pre-monsoon works by April. The instructions were issued against the backdrop of the early arrival of rains last year, posing a major civic challenge.At present, works of cleaning of nullahs and stormwater channels are ongoing in all 15 ward offices. Separate tenders were called to appoint agencies for each area to avoid delays. PMC faces the uphill task of completing 60% of cleaning of channels and ducts before the monsoon this year.A civic official chose anonymity and said, “At 65 flood-prone spots, various works are going on, including laying of stormwater channels, negotiating with slopes and gradients to eliminate water accumulation, replacing the lids of chambers or reconstructing drainage lines. All the works are expected to get over in the next one month.”Meanwhile, citizens’ forums and elected representatives from different areas have approached their respective ward offices with a list of flood-prone locations. A forum from Baner-Balewadi has appealed to local residents to hand over such a list of waterlogging spots near their societies to the ward office. Wadgaonsheri corporator Yogesh Mulik said he has planned joint inspections of pre-monsoon works to ensure that cleaning is not done in a haphazard manner.Vivek Velankar, head of the Sajag Nagrik Manch, said, “We have been asking PMC to conduct a third-party audit of pre-monsoon works. Their lack of preparedness was exposed recently, when unseasonal showers lashed Pune earlier in April. The entire city faced waterlogging. We do not want a repetition of this.”Viveka Sharma, a resident of Koregaon Park, said waterlogging is becoming a major challenge across areas. “Junctions are facing water accumulation after even brief spells of rain. The designing of stormwater channels need to undergo proper inspections,” she said.
