The irrigation department increased water discharge from Pavana Dam to 15,570 cusecs at 8:30pm, and from Mulshi Dam to 25,400 cusecs at 10pm on Tuesday, officials said
Despite temporary shelters arranged by the PMC at a nearby school, many residents were reluctant to leave their homes. Pic/Archana Dahiwal
Incessant heavy rains have triggered flood-like conditions across several parts of Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad, prompting civic authorities to evacuate hundreds of residents to safer locations as of 12:41am on Wednesday. The evacuation process was still ongoing.
In Pimpri-Chinchwad, 25 residents from Panchsheel Nagar in Pimple Nilakh and 45 from Laxminagar in Pimple Gurav were shifted to nearby municipal schools. Six residents from Sanjay Gandhi Nagar in Pimpri were relocated to Kamala Nehru School, while the evacuation of residents from Jadhav Ghat was also initiated. Additionally, around 40 people from Ramnagar in Bopkhel were moved to a municipal corporation school.
These evacuation efforts began late at night and were ongoing till the time of filing this report.
“All zonal officers are in close coordination with the local police inspectors, and both PCMC and PCPC teams are collectively responding. We are also in constant touch with the police department. For the night, the PCMC control room is being monitored by Executive Engineer Mobility Sunil Pawar along with five other officers,” a civic official said.
PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh told reporters, “No decision has been taken yet regarding shutting down schools, nor have we received any such directive from the district collector’s office.”
The irrigation department increased water discharge from Pavana Dam to 15,570 cusecs at 8:30pm, and from Mulshi Dam to 25,400 cusecs at 10pm on Tuesday, officials said.
Meanwhile in Pune, the situation turned critical in low-lying areas after 35,000 cusecs of water was released from Khadakwasla dam. The Ekta Nagar area on Sinhagad Road was once again inundated, with water entering housing societies and building parking lots. Several residents were trapped inside their homes.
Although Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) arranged temporary shelter in a nearby school, many residents were reluctant to leave their homes. Civic officials repeatedly appealed to them to shift to safer places.
PMC Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, who visited Ekta Nagar around midnight, said, “We had made arrangements in low-lying areas and near nullahs and streams. Teams have been deployed on the ground to ensure citizens’ safety.”
Last year too, Ekta Nagar residents had suffered heavy losses during flooding. Locals expressed frustration that despite multiple visits and assurances from ministers and officials, no permanent solution has been implemented yet.
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