Pune | Waterlogging, power cut and broken compound walls: Housing societies in NIBM-Mohammedwadi in disarray

Lonkar said that until late Tuesday evening, several housing societies had no power or water supply due to power cuts and short circuits. In a couple of societies, the compound walls had broken down.

Imran Siddiqui, chairman of Kwality Opal Society on NIBM Road, said the power supply was restored at 5 pm Tuesday evening, 19 hours after it went off. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

Written by: Alifiya Khan

4 min readPuneOct 19, 2022 08:10 AM IST First published on: Oct 19, 2022 at 05:12 AM IST

Just an hour after sudden rains began lashing the city, NIBM Road corporator Nanda Lonkar received a phone call on which she learned that her ground floor office at Sarvodaya Society was flooded.

While she rushed there with her son and husband to resolve the situation on Monday night, she started getting desperate calls for help from residents of nearby housing societies.

Also Read | Heavy rain lashes Pune overnight; third wettest October day since 2011: IMD

On Tuesday at 5 pm, she was still on the ground, inspecting the damage with Assistant Municipal Commissioner Prasad Katkar.

Traders trying to save their commodities after the water entered the Subway at Pune Railway station in the heavy rains on Monday night. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)

“The areas of Solapur Road, NIBM Road and certain areas in Wanowrie were the most impacted by rain and societies were waterlogged until Tuesday afternoon. We received complaints about basements being flooded from 16 societies in the NIBM Road area and four in Hadapsar. In Mohammedwadi’s Krushna Nagar and Holkarwadi, the nullahs were full and water was flowing on to the roads. It’s because of the sudden and excessive rainfall that the stormwater drainage system couldn’t cope with the pressure in some areas. We employed five pumps and nine were employed by private housing societies. But in some areas, we have seen encroachment on nullahs by builders and we will issue them notices,” he said.

Lonkar said that until late Tuesday evening, several housing societies had no power or water supply due to power cuts and short circuits. In a couple of societies, the compound walls had broken down. “In many housing societies, the power meter room, which is located in low-lying areas like parking area or basement, was flooded. The power supply had to be stopped for fear of short circuits until the area dried,” she said.

Rohan Gaikwad, a local MNS worker who had volunteered help in affected areas since Monday night, said the situation was worse in smaller housing societies. “There has been a power cut for more than 20 hours in many areas. The bigger housing societies have generator backups for elevators and water pumps, but the smaller, standalone buildings don’t have it and cannot afford diesel for generators. In some areas, senior citizens have not received water or electricity in 20 hours,” he said.

Hoardings collapsed during the heavy rains on Monday night near Elina Living at NIBM annex. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)

74-year-old David Chinnayya, secretary of Amba Vihar Society, said many senior citizens who lived on the upper floors were sitting in the parking lot since morning. “It has been 20 hours and we have no electricity in our society. How will these senior citizens climb five or six storeys? We have enough water at the ground level but we cannot operate the motor to pump it up, so we have had no water since yesterday. And this power supply breakage isn’t an issue of just rains, it happens at least three-four times a day. We have written to MSEB officials, approached local corporators and staged protests, but nothing happens,” he said.

Imran Siddiqui, chairman of Kwality Opal Society on NIBM Road, said the power supply was restored at 5 pm Tuesday evening, 19 hours after it went off.

“This stretch of road is one that neither ward officials nor local corporators look after. Flooding is a very common issue here though we hope that a new stormwater drain, which is being laid, will solve the issue. But we don’t know who will resolve the issue of power supply,” he said.