PMC races to clean nullahs ahead of deadline

With only a fortnight to go, HT looked at different areas in the city to verify how much work had been achieved

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been given the deadline of May 15 to ensure that the nullahs and gutters in the city are cleaned in preparation before the monsoon rains arrive.

According to data provided by PMC’s drainage department, Shivajinagar shows progress of 54% on nullahs cleaned and 100% on priority spots. (HT PHOTO)

“The length of the nullahs in the city is about 360 km. 15 ward offices have appointed independent agencies for nullah cleaning. The goal is to finish all the work for the culverts, which is one of the major priorities, by May 10,” said the superintending engineer with the drainage department of PMC.

With only a fortnight to go, HT looked at different areas in the city to verify how much work had been achieved.

According to data provided by PMC’s drainage department, Shivajinagar shows progress of 54% on nullahs cleaned and 100% on priority spots. Karvenagar shows 35% of nullahs cleaned and 100% on priority spots. Ground reports confirm these numbers, as nullahs in Shivajinagar and Karvenagar have been cleaned.

“We know that in the last three to four years which issues we need to tackle. We want to avoid situations like the 2019 overflow at Ambil Odha. Widening, deepening, cleaning - all work is going on right now. We have made new culverts in those areas where it is necessary. Areas around where people throw trash into the nullahs, we have put nets around it so that won’t happen,” the superintending engineer said.

Vivek Velankar of Sajag Nagrik Manch raised another important point, saying, “When they clean the nullahs, where do they keep the material that they remove? Is it disposed of? If they keep the extracted trash right next to the nullahs then once it rains, it will go back in. There needs to be a disposal mechanism, as well. That is also important.”

A citizen of Shivajinagar echoed the issue, claiming, “Cleaning has been done. But oftentimes, the trash gets caught up at the end of the stream and when it rains, it goes back into the nullah. What do we do about that?”