CM Eknath Shinde reviews flood risk in Pune, seeks plan for permanent rehabilitation of residents living in affected areas

Eknath Shinde also directed the Pune district administration to construct a protection wall alongside the Mula-Mutha river on Sinhagad road as an immediate measure.

The PMC informed that around three lakh people live in the city's blue flood line of rivers. (Express photo)

Under criticism for failure to effectively handle the flood-like situation in Pune ten days ago, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the district and civic administration on Saturday to prepare a report to undertake permanent rehabilitation of residents living in the city’s flood-prone areas.

Shinde held a meeting of officials of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), district collectorate and irrigation department after a delegation of Maharashtra Navnirman Sen (MNS), led by party chief Raj Thackeray, raised the issue in the meeting.

“The administration should plan for permanent rehabilitation of residents living in the blue line of the Mula-Mutha river that passes across the city. A rehabilitation report should be prepared, and a retaining wall should be constructed alongside the river on Sinhagad road as an immediate measure,” he said in Mumbai.

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The PMC informed that around three lakh people live in the city’s blue flood line of rivers. Flood lines are imaginary lines marked on the banks of a river indicating potential flood threat zones. The blue line marks a ‘once in 25 years’ flood line, and the line marks a ‘once in 100 years’ flood line.

The irrigation department said it had issued an alert about the flood-like situation caused by water being released from the Khadakwasla dam in the river, while the civic administration informed of the measures it had taken to rescue affected citizens.

The chief minister asked the district collector to negotiate with insurance companies to pay for residents’ vehicle damage caused by flooding.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

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