10 July,2009 09:27 AM IST | | Vivek Sabnis
Panshet dam that once supplied drinking water to the city is lying in state of neglect since 48 years; has become encroachers' paradise
On July 12, 1961, the city was almost washed out by the breach in the first mud-built dam at Panshet. It was one of the most appalling deluges in the history of Pune and had affected a population of about one lakh.
Besides, it had destroyed property worth Rs 17.5 crore then.
In 1962, economist Dr Sulabha Brahme and ecologist Prakash Gole had submitted a report Deluge in Poona:
Aftermath and Rehabilitationu00a0on behalf of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics to the State government and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The report suggested several guidelines that were ignored by the concerned authorities.
According to the report, there shouldn't be any residential area within 150m of the dam and those already living there should be relocated. However, nothing has been done so far and in fact, a large slum has come up along the Mutha River on which the dam had been built.
"It's quite unfortunate that the PMC has not taken the report seriously," said Vijay Paranjpe, president of Gomukh, an NGO that's working for Mutha River. He added that even the irrigation department has not marked the flood line in the dam, as suggested in the report.
According to Brahme and Gole, who had made the report, the deluge actually gave an opportunity to the authorities to re-plan the central areas devastated by floodwater, particularly the riverfront. However, the state only looked upon the flood-control measures and has only left a 150-feet wide area open along the Mutha bank.
When asked about what the PMC is doing about the suggestions mentioned in the report, V R Patil, superintending engineer of the PMC, said, "The report is very old and we don't have any idea about it.
Nonetheless, we are now spending Rs 200 crore on the development of Mutha River."
