After floods, group seeks stay on Mutha river RFD work until concerns reviewed

“The floods last week in areas alongside Mutha river raised serious concern that is likely to arise due to the RFD. In 1997, 90,570 cusecs of water had been released from Khadakwasla dam, but no serious situation witnessed back then as was last week after 35,000 cusecs of water was released into the Mutha river. It signifies that the encroachment in the river was a threat to the lives of citizens,” said former Rajya Sabha MP and member of Pune Bachav Mohim Vandana Chavan. Pune Bachav Mohim was started by a group of organisations and individuals including political parties to raise concerns of citizens regarding floods caused by encroachments in the river.

“The civic administration has ignored concerns raised by us in the past and failed to put a check on river encroachments,” she said, adding that the worst part was that the civic body itself was encroaching on the river by taking up projects like metro rail and RFD.
Chavan said that the Samiti has written a letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to constitute a committee of experts to review the RFD and stop ongoing work until then.

She said that dumping debris in the river should stop and the state government should demarcate a dedicated plot for debris to be dumped while ensuring it is strictly followed. She added that the construction of a 100-feet wide road in the riverbed near Koregaon Park has put buildings in danger.

Activist Sarang Yadvadkar said the revierbed’s narrowing due to the RFD was pushing water backward the water level upstream, causing floods as a result. “The PMC has failed to get a renewed environment clearance for the RFD as per NGT directions, but it still continues with the work,” he said.
Prajakta Mahajan of Pune River Revival, an organisation working to revive water bodies in the city, said the civic body should answer why the city’s roads had flooded and how many constructions were carried out in the flood line in Pune.

Meanwhile, dams upstream of Mutha river were on the verge of filling to capacity, with 86 per cent storage in four dams — Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar. As a result, 25,036 cusec of water was released from Khadakwasla dam on Monday as rains in the catchment area increased the flow in dams.