While the arrival of the southwest monsoon appears to be delayed by a few days in Maharashtra, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has claimed to have completed all the pre-monsoon work and cleaned all the nullahs, manholes, storm water lines, culverts and other spots prone to waterlogging inside the old city limits.
Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar, who is also serving as an administrator, held a meeting with officials on Tuesday to review the pre-monsoon works and instructed the administration to ensure that there is no waterlogging in the city during the monsoon. The meeting was held amid various political parties accusing the administration of not carrying out pre-monsoon work properly and leaving cleaning works unfinished in many parts.
According to additional municipal commissioner, Vilas Kanade, most of the work within the old city limits has been completed and only minor work in the merged villages has to be carried out.
“Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar conducted the review meeting on Tuesday for the same to take stock of the situation. We have allocated earthmoving machines and the required manpower to each ward office for the monsoon season. The civic body has been able to finish 100% work in the city parts while some minor works are left in the newly merged areas,” said Kanade.
“Two weeks ago, the municipal commissioner appointed a committee of three additional municipal commissioners and instructed them to monitor the work. I myself went to many spots to inspect the work. We walked through the nullahs to verify whether the work had been completed by the regional ward offices,” Kanade added.
{{/usCountry}}“Two weeks ago, the municipal commissioner appointed a committee of three additional municipal commissioners and instructed them to monitor the work. I myself went to many spots to inspect the work. We walked through the nullahs to verify whether the work had been completed by the regional ward offices,” Kanade added.
{{/usCountry}}According to officials, the PMC had identified 76 ‘critical spots’ that are prone to flooding or waterlogging and all of them have been cleared. The manholes and storm water lines have also been cleared. The PMC had identified 373 culverts out of which 95% have been repaired. The cleaning work required to be done using machinery is complete while that requiring manual labour remains in parts of the merged areas. Meanwhile, a PMC officer from the sewage department said that while the cleaning work started late, the administration still completed it well in time. The PMC has set a June 10 deadline to finish all the pre-monsoon work.