Rescue machinery alert,cops on toes

Fire brigade officials said no major incidences of trees collapse were reported. Prashant Ranpise,chief fire officer with PMC,said,“Our rescue teams were sent to Sinhagad road,a stretch of Tadiwala road along Bundgarden and Pulachi Wadi as waters entered and people had to be evacuated to safer places.”

Ranpise added,“We are closely monitoring the rising waters. All our teams are on alert. Along the river bank at Pulachi Wadi there are some pucca houses that had to be evacuated first.”

Dnyaneshwar Phadtare,deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) said,“As the waters were discharged and the levels rose,we deployed our marshals and mobile vans in low- lying areas. We have also barricaded many roads to prevent mishaps. All senior police inspectors in the area have been asked to oversee operations. Constables have been deployed at entry points of the bridges to prevent. Traffic was stopped on bridges after they were flooded. The traffic on Bhide bridge was stopped at 1.45 pm while the waters entered Pulachi Wadi at 5.25 pm.”

Vishwas Pandhare,DCP (traffic) said,“The traffic faced some problems on arterial roads JM and FC roads for some time. The overall flow in the city was slower than usual because of the rain and slippery roads.” Along with Bhide bridge and Gadgil bridge,a bridge on a nullah in Thergaon was also closed to traffic,traffic police said.