The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has allocated ₹36 crore for the construction of a 15-metre-long new bridge at Bhairoba nullah near Ganga Satellite housing society after demolishing the 100-year-old low-lying bridge.
Ganesh Puram, engineer, PMC drainage department, said that permission has been sought from the police department and the bridge’s design and height have been chalked out as the waterbody is prone to rising floodwaters.
Civic officials said that water flows at a height of 2.50 feet above the present bridge during flooding and the new structure will be build taller than the present bridge.
The memories of commuters getting washed away in the strong current of flood waters of Bhairoba nullah at Ganga Satellite in September 2019 came to haunt citizens on Friday evening after the city witnessed brief spell of intense rainfall leading to flooding across all areas.
Ganga Satellite bridge over Bhairoba nullah is an important link that connects Camp with Wanowrie. According to the traffic branch, the bridge is used by 2,000 commuters daily.
A spot visit to the old bridge shows broken railings unrepaired for the past three years and lack of police presence during monsoon season when the area is prone to flooding.
{{/usCountry}}A spot visit to the old bridge shows broken railings unrepaired for the past three years and lack of police presence during monsoon season when the area is prone to flooding.
{{/usCountry}}Mahesh Punde, former Wanowrie corporator, said, “The work on new bridge should begin only after an alternate road has been put in place to cater to heavy volume of traffic that uses the present bridge.”
Vinod Mathurawala, former Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) member, said, “The present bridge comes under the jurisdiction of PCB and the maintenance part is looked after by PMC. The cantonment board has already given its NOC to PMC for the construction of new bridge.”
Maithili Manakwad, Wanowrie-based civic rights activist, said, “There is a need for an alternate route to divert traffic from the existing bridge which has to be constructed anew.”
On September 25, 2019, software professionals Salim Shaikh and Victor Sanglejam drove towards the Bhairoba nullah which had burst its banks and the bridge was underwater and were washed away in the flash floods which claimed 26 lives in Pune.