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This is an archive article published on April 29, 2018

Uncovered, haphazardly-placed drains pose a threat to residents

PCMC executive engineer says ‘will fix alignment’ — one of the most common issues.

Drainage chambers at Walhekarwadi (clockwise, from top), Chinchwad, Pimpri, and Phugewadi. Rajesh Stephen

EARLIER this month, a yoga teacher, who was cycling from Gurav Pimple to Durga Tekdi, fell unconscious after her cycle hit a drainage chamber at Morwadi Chowk. She was rushed to the hospital by two passersby, said a member of her family. Her treatment cost about Rs 23,000, the family member added. The drainage chamber was placed in such a way that it did not align with the surface of the road, making the stretch susceptible to accidents. The woman said she did not realise that a drainage chamber would suddenly pop up on a smooth road, a view seconded by many residents.

Like the drainage chamber at Morwadi Chowk, there are several other chambers across Pimpri-Chinchwad, which are equally accident prone. Some are half covered, a few have no cover, some appear in the middle of the road and others have sunk, creating a pothole-like void. Many of the drains do not align with the surface of the road. Activists and residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad said it was a long-pending issue. “A few years ago, a two-wheeler rider had fallen inside a drainage chamber whose cover was missing. He fell right inside the chamber along with this two-wheeler. Fortunately, he survived with a few injuries,” said Kiran Dhanawate, a resident of Gurav Pimple.

Advocate Manohar Garande said the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) makes roads but forgets to adhere to safety regulations. “It seems the PCMC’s policy is restricted to construction of roads, they don’t bother about safety steps. As a result, dangerously-placed drains are found on every road, threatening the lives of commuters,” he added.

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PCMC Executive Engineer D Gattuwar conceded that there was a problem with drainage chamber covers and stormwater drains. He said, “The problem arises because every time a road is laid, due to layers of tarring, the drainage chambers sink under the new layer.”

Another official said, at some places, the chamber covers were either stolen or damaged. Covers often get damaged by heavy vehicles. “Underground services, too, affect the alignment of drains,” the official added. Gattuwar, who is in charge of four divisional offices, said he has initiated the process of fixing the alignment of drainage chambers. “In a few days, all drainage chambers will be aligned with the surface of the road,” he said.

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.   Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were  asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.     Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More


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