Funds for urban flood risk management not yet released as PMC hasn’t submitted detailed plan

The Pune Municipal Corporation failed to submit a detailed action plan for urban flood risk management, causing a delay in the release of funds worth Rs50 crores per annum approved by the central government. The PMC has now prepared a detailed plan for Rs250 crores, which will be submitted next week. The plan proposes culverts and natural treatment for nullahs to reduce the impact of floods, along with a command room and vigilance system for flood management. Pune is one of seven cities selected under the urban flood risk management program by the 15th Finance Commission.

PUNE: While the central government had given ‘in principle’ approval to funds worth Rs50 crores per annum for urban flood risk management nearly a year ago, the same have not yet been released as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) failed to submit a detailed action plan.

The city received heavy rains, causing floods in 2019, (HT PHOTO)

Ganesh Sonune, head, PMC disaster management cell, said, “The central government had given ‘in principle’ approval for Rs250 crores for Pune city under the urban flood risk management programme. Under this scheme, the PMC will get Rs50 crores every year. While the PMC got approval last year, it did not submit the detailed plan which is why funds have not yet been released. We have prepared a detailed plan for Rs250 crores which will be submitted by next week.”

“After submitting the detailed plan, the central government will release the funds. Under this plan, the PMC had proposed culverts and natural treatment for nullahs to reduce the impact of floods. We are also building a command room and vigilance system for flood management with the help of technology,” Sonune said.

According to the 15th Finance Commission (2021-26), seven cities have been selected under the urban flood risk management programme which include Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has approved an annual allocation of Rs50 crores for Pune city for the next five years. The NDMA conducted a one-day workshop with authorities from the respective cities on September 13, 2022 in the national capital.

Sonune said, “As urban floods have emerged as a nationwide problem, the NDMA has taken the initiative of bringing the cities together to discuss various urban flood preparedness and mitigation solutions. Each city will need to develop its own programme as per the guidelines from NDMA. The PMC will need to chalk out short- and long-term measures under the programme.”