As heavy rain lashes Pune, water resources dept to release water from Khadakwasla dam

Pune has been witnessing rain since Wednesday night, and it intensified Thursday morning.

Incessant rains have been battering parts of Pune Incessant rains have been battering parts of Pune over the last few days.

PMC administration to release water in the Mutha River from the Khadakwasla Dam concerning the heavy rains. (File photo )

Amid the incessant rain in the city and upstream of the Mutha River raising the level in the Khadakwasla Dam, the Pune civic body said Thursday that the water will be released at a speed of 2,000 cusecs from the dam in the afternoon.

“The water resources department has decided to release water in the Mutha River from the Khadakwasla Dam. The civic administration should inform localities in and around the river about it for safety reasons. Use of public address system should also be done for the purpose,” said Prithviraj B P, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

The PMC administration appealed to citizens to remove their vehicles from the riverbed, and also stop using the river bridge at Nanded city to avoid accidents.PMC said it has put its disaster management cell on alert to take swift action for the relief and rescue of citizens in case of an emergency. All ward offices have a disaster management cell for their respective areas to resolve citizens’ concerns of waterlogging, tree felling, drainage blockage, and other related issues.

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The city has been witnessing rain since Wednesday night, and it intensified in the morning, causing inconvenience to citizens during peak hours as they commuted to schools, colleges, and offices. “The civic administration has identified 71 shelter facilities, mainly civic schools and halls, for rain-affected localities in case they need to be shifted due to flooding. A 24×7 flood control room is operational in the main building and at all 15 ward offices. The civic body has also kept ready pumps, jetting machines, JCBs, and rubber boats to tackle waterlogging and flooding,” said Ganesh Sonune, Disaster Management Officer, PMC.

Meanwhile, PMC chief Naval Kishore Ram directed the roads department to complete the repair and maintenance of all bridges in the city.

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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