Pune Municipal Commissioner inspects drain cleaning; instructs officials to complete works by May 15

Rajendra Bhosale, Pune Municipal Corporation Commissioner carried out inspections of the Ambil Odha, Nagzari Nala, and Manik Nala on Tuesday as the drain cleaning works are in progress before the arrival of monsoons. The commissioner has instructed officials to finish the work of locations where water enters residential communities by May 15.

In anticipation of this year’s Lok Sabha elections, PMC got the job done early by floating the tender for cleaning rain gutters and drains. Each of the 15 regional offices spread across the city has been given a distinct tender for this.

Commissioner Bhosale, Additional Commissioner Prithviraj BP, Santosh Tandale, the Superintending Engineer of the Sewage Division, Dinkar Gojare, and other officers were present during the inspection. As per information, the commissioner inspected Vaikunth Crematorium, Dandekar Bridge, Shivdarshan, Aranyeshwar, K.K. Market, Katraj, and Katraj Lake, and his trip continued till dusk. After the visits, the Commissioner expressed how he was satisfied with the results of ongoing work.

It is worthy to note that the drain cleaning project was delayed in the previous years. As a result, the work of cleaning was extended until June. There were a lot of malpractices conducted to finish the work sooner as the contractor and administration attempted to demonstrate that the drains had been cleaned by eliminating the trash and grass on the upper surface while leaving the sludge behind.

Attention towards water woes

The problem of water supply is serious in the areas of Mangdewadi, Bhilarewadi, and Yevlewadi. During this visit, the commissioner paid attention to this issue. Authorities have been ordered to remove the silt from the well at Mangdewadi. Also, the water in Katraj Lake has decreased. So cleaning has been done there as well. Due to sewage coming into Katraj Lake, the communities in the area are suffering from mosquitoes and bad smells.

So far, 45-50% of the work has been performed on average. While 70% of culverts and other challenging areas have been mostly cleaned, the deadline for completing these tasks is May 15.