Pune civic body begins monsoon preparedness, to act on 201 flood-prone spots

Ahead of the rainy season, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has kicked off pre-monsoon works at 201 locations across the city that are prone to waterlogging. The list includes 118 spots identified by the Pune traffic police as frequent trouble areas during heavy rains. 

Rainwater drainage lines will be laid at 12 of these sites, while work across all 201 locations is expected to be completed by the end of May. 

Additional municipal commissioner Prithviraj BP conducted a review meeting to monitor the progress of these pre-monsoon measures on Tuesday.  

Santosh Tandale, superintendent engineer of the drainage department at PMC, said, “The PMC has identified 129 waterlogging spots where work has already started. In addition to this, the Pune Traffic Police have provided a list of 118 spots where waterlogging causes traffic issues during the monsoon. After reviewing both lists, we finalised 201 waterlogging spots, as some locations were common to both departments.” 

Among the various wards, Hadapsar-Mundhwa tops the list with 18 waterlogging spots, followed by Wanowrie with 14 and Bibwewadi with 13 spots. Kondhwa-Yewalewadi has 12 identified locations, while Kasba-Vishrambaugwada has 10. Yerawada-Kalas-Dhanori and Aundh-Baner both have 9 spots each. Ahmednagar Road, Dhole Patil, and Shivajinagar-Ghole Road wards have 7 spots each. Kothrud-Bavdhan has 6 waterlogging spots, Sinhagad Road has 5, and Warje-Karvenagar and Dhankawadi-Sahakarnagar have 4 each.  

Desalting drive at Katraj Lake 

One of the major interventions includes desilting at Katraj Lake, which frequently overflows during heavy rains. Officials said nearly 10,000 cubic meters of silt have already been removed, with the total target set at 1.5 lakh cubic meters. The desilting work is expected to improve water flow and reduce overflow risk. The lake’s old gate will also be replaced. Similarly, desilting has begun at Jambhulwadi Lake, while the process at Pashan Lake has been stalled due to pending technical clearances and is unlikely to proceed this season. 

The civic body has also commenced the annual cleaning of stormwater drains. However, PMC has warned contractors that payment will only be released after physical verification of silt removal and inspection of the designated dumping sites. “No bill will be cleared without checking where the silt has been dumped,” Prithviraj BP said. 

The civic body also plans to hold a joint meeting with the traffic police to expedite permissions for work in areas where traffic flow may be impacted. Out of 66 pre-monsoon civil works floated under the first package, 21 have already commenced on-ground.