The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has finally accepted the standing committee’s proposal to build a retaining wall along Ambil Odha for which the civic body has now issued the work order to a contractor.
However, given the encroachments at various places along the Ambil Odha,a stream that flows through Katraj, Dhankavdi and Sahakarnagar areas, it will be difficult for contractor to complete the wall on time.
Last year, the wall was washed away during the September flash floods wreaking havoc in the area. The floods claimed 26 lives of which seven were residents of Tangewala colony in Sahakarnagar.
Additional commissioner Shantanu Goyal visited Dhankavdi, Katraj and Bibvewadi on Wednesday after signing the orders for construction of a three km retaining wall.
The superintendent engineer incharge for the project (name withheld on request due to office rules), said, “Work order has been issued and there are twenty spots which have been selected. The work will take place under phases and the work mobilisation will take place in the next few days. An estimated cost of Rs 10 crore is being spent for the first phases which would cover 10km of the nullah area in a few months time ”
The administration has allocated Rs 20 crore for the construction of the retaining wall and the tendering process is underway for the same. The tendering process came under cloud as the PMC had not completed the land acquisition process for the construction work and currently only 60 per cent of the land has been acquired. Goyal had visited the area to take into consideration the acquisition of the remainder area for the wall construction work.
{{/usCountry}}The administration has allocated Rs 20 crore for the construction of the retaining wall and the tendering process is underway for the same. The tendering process came under cloud as the PMC had not completed the land acquisition process for the construction work and currently only 60 per cent of the land has been acquired. Goyal had visited the area to take into consideration the acquisition of the remainder area for the wall construction work.
{{/usCountry}}Corporator Ashwini Kadam, said, “The work order for retaining wall tender has still not been issued and administration is completely lax in handling the issue. Despite witnessing last Sept 25 deluge, no progress has been made on ground. On October 18, it was a repeat of last year’s nightmare and despite, informing the administration about the retaining wall work, they have not bothered to complete the work.”
Additional Commissioner Goyal said that instructions have been issued to start the construction work at the earliest as the standing committee has already given approval for the said project.
However, elected representatives alleged that both MP Supriya Sule and deputy CM Ajit Pawar had issued a stern warning to the administration regarding inaction and inordinate delay in carrying out the construction work. The administration is also mulling over removal of the illegal constructions.