Incessant rains have resulted in flooding in many parts of the Konkan and Western Maharashtra regions of the state, rainfall in the Pune district is also a cause for concern owing to rapidly rising levels of dam waters. Though the situation is well under control now, the administration continues to be alert as the many dams and rivers in the district makes it vulnerable to floods. How many rivers and dams are there in Pune? The district has a total of 19 rivers passing through its jurisdiction. The Bhima River is the longest with 300 km followed by the Nira river with 190 km and Ghod river stretching upto 125 km. Only six of the 19 rivers have length less than 50 km before they actually merge into bigger rivers. Most of them emerge from Mulshi, Maval, Bhor, Velhe and Purandar tehsil of the district. They later pass through Haveli, Baramati, Indapur, Khed, Shirur, Junnar, Ambegaon tehsils and Pune city. There are a total of 24 dams of different sizes on various rivers in the district. The largest among them is the Ujjani dam having water storage capacity of 109.98 TMC followed by Bhatgar dam with 23.77 TMC capacity and Mulshi dam with 18.47 TMC. The other five dams with a capacity of over 10 TMC are Dimbhe, Varasgaon, Manikdoh, Pavna and Panshet. Which are its flood-prone areas? There are 84 villages in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad area which are flood-prone. They are alongside 12 different rivers and downstream of 14 dams. The maximum number of villages that are flood-prone is 17, including 16 in Daund tehsil and one in Indapur tehsil, alongside Bhimar river and downstream of Ujjani dam. Also, 16 more villages, including nine in Shirur tehsil and seven in Haveli tehsil, alongside Bhima river are flood-prone. Thereafter, 10 villages along Indrayani river, which passes through Maval, Khed and Haveli tehsil area, are flood-prone. There are nine villages each alongside Mutha river and Ghod river that are flood-prone. The Mutha river on the downstream of four dams - Panshet, Varasgaon Temghar and Khadakwasla– passes through Mulshi, Velhe, Haveli tehsil and Pune city while the Ghod river on the downstream of Dimbhe dam passes through Ambegaon and Shirur tehsil. Which are the worst flood-hit areas in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad? The urban areas of the Pune district are the worst flood-hit areas. The Pune city administration has to be on its toes during the monsoon as the water rushes into low-lying localities alongside the Mutha, Mula and Pavna rivers. The flooding of Mutha river affects Hingne Khurd, Vithalwadi, Pulachiwadi in Erandwane, Patil Estate in Shivajinagar, Shanti Nagar and Indiranagar slums in Yerwada and Sangamwadi in Pune city while the Mula river flooding affects life in Aundh, Dapodi, Sangvi, Baner, Hingangaon, Pimpri and Chinchwad. The Pavana river passing through Pimpri Chinchwad affects Kasarwadi, Phugewadi, Pimple Saudagar, Pimple Gurav, Rahatani, Chovisawadi, Nirgudi and Sangvi. What is the impact of quantity-wise water discharge from Khadakwasla dam? The Khadakwasla dam is the closest to Pune city. In fact, its wall is the new boundary of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The Khadakwasla dam receives water from Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar dams. The discharge of water from the 3 TMC dam is started as soon as it fills to its capacity or there is release of water from dams upstream of Mutha river. It takes three hours for water to reach the Sangam bridge in the city after discharge of water from Khadakwasla dam. The discharge of water from Khadakwasla dam on Thursday was maximum of 25,000 cusecs but the alert is sounded when the discharge is 40,000 cusecs. The actual action of shifting residents of low-lying areas begins when the water discharged is 50,000 cusecs. The areas that are first to get affected is Kamgar Putla slums in Shivajinagar after the release of 30,000 cusec water followed by Pulachi wadi in Deccan due to release of 35,000 cusec of water while Khilarewasti in Erandwane, PMT Terminus backside at Deccan and Tofkhana in Shivajinagar gets affected with 40,000 cusec discharge. When the discharge is upto 45,000 cusec, the areas that are affected are behind Poona hospital, Sitabaug colony in Narayan Peth, Ashtbhuja Mandir in Narayan Peth, area near Amruteshwar mandir in Shaniwar peth, Dengle bridge in Kasba peth, PMC colony in Kasba peth, Barne road and Gadital locality in Mangalwar Peth, Tadiwala road slum and area closed to Ambil Odha witnesses flooding. The area alongside Shivane is affected as water discharge is increased to 50,000 cusec. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox Other flood-prone areas in Pune Areas getting affected due to flooding of Mula river are Shantinagar, Indiranagar and Sadalbaba Durga area in Yerawada, Kalas, Aundh, Bopodi, Sangamwadi, Mula road slum, Patil Estate in Shivajinagar. There are 12 nallahs in the city and the flooding of nallahs take place if there is heavy rainfall in the city. It affects the localities and slums alongside the nallahs. Flood-prone areas in Pimpri Chinchwad The Pavna and Mula river flooding affects the low-lying areas of Pimpri Chinchwad. The area that gets affected are Boudhnagar, Bhat Nagar, Milind Nagar, Ambedkar Colony, Ramabai Nagar, Pravar Wasti, Gulab Nagar in Dapodi, Anandvan Ashram in Fugewadi, Hirabai Landge slum, Kasarwadi, Sangvi Mula Nagar, Sangam Nagar, Panchshil Nagar, Madhuban Society, Shikshak Society, Pimple Gurav, Kaspate Wasti and Sanjay Gandhi Nagar.
