Travel disrupted for Pune commuters after waterlogging at IT hub Hinjewadi

An employee with another IT giant in Hinjawadi Phase 3 told The Indian Express, “Whenever it rains heavily or even with less intensity the roads get clogged up, in Phase 3 and Phase 2. The sewage system is not proper. Thankfully I got saved on Saturday as I had a holiday, but my company does not allow work from home unless it is an exceptional circumstance. Companies should not be rigid about work from home. Some managers are lenient and approve it quickly, but some others will say ‘It is not our problem’. When the same situation happened in Bangalore, WFH was approved in my company but not in Pune.”

Pavanjit Mane from the Forum For IT Employees says, “The natural streams that let water out have been blocked by construction. Most of the nullas in the areas are broken. Some are filled with mud, some are not connected.” Sharing a video of the water logging on social media, Mane said Hinjawadi had been converted into a water park.

PMRDA and MIDC shift blame

Col [Retd] Shankar Salkar, Deputy head of operations at Hinjawadi Industries Association said the issue of drainage was raised at a meeting with PMRDA, MIDC, and Metro officials on April 2. “By May 20, all drainage and construction issues were to be resolved. And now you can see what the date is.”

“We are the sufferers in this situation and the PMRDA and MIDC should take cognizance. They are well aware of the issue and we have taken this issue up with them continuously since last year. They are making an effort and doing work, but more work needs to be done. Lot of things were verbally approved last year but they are not happening. We keep bringing it up at every meeting,” he added.

Rinaj Pathan, Chief Engineer at Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, told The Indian Express that a culvert to be built by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) was not built yet which caused the water logging. “We had a meeting with MIDC and they were supposed to build a culvert and the pipeline work was also not done because of premature rains. If both of these things happen the issue will be sorted out.” She added that as a temporary solution, the PMRDA was removing the Metro barricades on the road to prevent the water logging.

However, Nitin Wankhede, Chief Engineer at MIDC, denied that the culvert was the reason for the water logging. “This (water logging) has not happened due to the culvert. Our work is on and it will be completed in 2-4 days. It is 50 per cent complete and if the rain stops we can complete it in 2-4 days. But the water logging has happened due to the Metro construction and the barricades. My team is on the site today and if there is any issue with the drains that will also be solved.”