Monsoon woes for civic commissioner too?

New civic chief Mahesh Pathak had promised pre-monsoon works would be completed by end of May, but construction of culvert on nullah in his own backyard remains incomplete as heavy showers begin in city

Monsoon woes for civic commissioner too?

Delayed: Construction of the culvert near Municipal Commissioner
Mahesh Pathak's bungalow in Model Colony remains incomplete.
Pic/Jignesh Mistry

The populace can, however, take heart that they will not be alone in deep waters, for along with them, the municipal commissioner too will be in a spot of bother, if the skies open incessantly.u00a0Last year, the then municipal commissioner Mahesh Zaghade was injured, when flood waters washed away the compound wall to his home and barged in.

Thanks to the PMC, the situation promises to be no different for the incumbent Mahesh Pathak this year. The civic chief's bungalow is next to a nullah on the Hare Krishna Temple Road in Model Colony. To fix the poor channeling of nullahs, the PMC had begun constructing a culvert on it to ensure monsoon water does not overflow, but the work is yet to be completed.

Pathak had assured Punekars that all pre-monsoon work would be completed by May 31.u00a0Pathak, who took charge on May 18, had visited the culvert near his home the same day and expressed his satisfaction over the work. "This is one of the major problem areas during monsoon and last year the nearby Chapekar Nagar and big housing societies were flooded in Model Colony," he said.

Unfinished
Work on J M Road, Fergusson College Road, Laxmi Road, Bajirao Road and Karve Road is yet to be completed. Underground drainage work at Alpana Theatre on Laxmi Road, Saraswati Mandir on Bajirao Road and Phadtare Chowk on Shivaji Road is pending. The road has been dig up for underground drainage lines. The footpath work near Kaka Halwai remains unfinished. Water-logging areas identified in the old city are Law College Road, Neelayam Cinema, MSEDCL square on Nehru Road, Ramoshi Gate Chowk and Sat Toti Chowky at Kasaba Peth.

The incident last year
On the night of October 5 last year, former Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade was injured, when on opening the rear gate to his bungalow in Model Colony, a wave of floodwater knocked him down. His security guard was also injured while trying to shield Zagade. The former civic chief was trying to drain the water collected in the compound of his bungalow premises, which is close to a nullah.u00a0u00a0u00a0

The Other Side
PMC Junior Engineer (Roads) who is in charge of Model Colony culvert project near Pathak's bungalow, ruled out the possibility of any danger to the Commissioner's bungalow or to the nearby housing complexes. Vijay Khapse, PMC Junior engineer, roads said: "The project is worth Rs 40 lakh and expected to be completed by June end. The slab work shall start from June 15 and the traffic on the culvert will be open after June 31. Technically, this is the Abutment Culvert and water flow in the nullas will not be obstructed even during monsoon or cause threat." Vivek Kharwadkar, development engineer, roads, PMC, said: "The city has a total of 60 culverts. These are all located in Kothrud, Pashan, Baner, Bavdhan, Baner, Aundh and Hadapsar. All the culverts are under construction and shall take at least a month to complete."

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