Drainage work resumes in Kondhwa after police nod
Asseem Shaikh | TNN | Feb 8, 2019, 23:59 IST
The traffic police have allowed the civic body to resume laying an underground drainage pipeline on a 200m str... Read MoreThe traffic police have allowed the civic body to resume laying an underground drainage pipeline on a 200m stretch along Kondhwa road between Konark Pooram, a gated housing society, and Bhagyodayanagar Chowk.
The work was closed for 18 days, as the police had said it was triggering traffic snarls. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) received the police’s permission on Wednesday.
A large number of people had come out in the PMC’s support. They wanted the civic administration to speed up the project because the drain water was overflowing in the area for a year.
The PMC inaugurated the project and its contractor dug up the road for replacing the 8inch pipe laid over two decades ago with an 18inch pipe. This was done keeping in mind the increase in population because of rapid urbanisation in Kondhwa and its suburbs.
The police, however, ordered the contractor to stop the work. Their contention was that the work was started without seeking consent and the work was causing traffic congestion during the peak hours.
On visiting the spot, the TOI correspondent found that the drainage was connected to the storm water drain at Bhagyodayanagar Chowk.
PMC corporator Nanda Lonkar told TOI, “The contractor had started the work on the 36m road on an emergency basis, as the drainage pipe got choked and the sewage started overflowing from a manhole outside gate number 2 of Konark Pooram. This was causing much inconvenience for the society residents and people passing by. We tried our best to get the pipe cleaned. but nothing happened.”
Lonkar added, “As soon as the work of replacing the pipe started, it was stopped in the absence of a no objection certificate (NOC) from the traffic police. We took up the matter with the police and got the issue resolved.”
Kondhwa traffic police inspector Chandrakant Nimbalkar said, “We have issued the NOC to the contractor and instructed him to commence the work on the narrow stretch at night and the wider portion during day.”
The officer added, “The contractor has to appoint adequate wardens for manning traffic and barricading the place where the work is in progress. The contractor had used an earth moving elevator for digging the road without informing the police.”
A PMC official said the NOC was not obtained because the situation compelled the civic authorities to start the work on an emergency basis. He said, :The existing pipe had become outdated. Since the police have now issued the NOC, we will complete the project the earliest.”
Konark Pooram chairperson Ayub Parihar said over 5,000 people lived in 800 flats and bungalows in the society. “Our drainage outlet is connected to the main line. which has got choked. We had faced the drainage problem some two years ago. We had then laid a pipe for flushing the drainage water into a nullah on the NIBM Road bypass on the north side of the society, instead of the west side facing the main road. We made several complaints to the PMC to replace the old drainage line. But there was no action.”
Electrical engineer Munawar Tamboli said the society residents were initially agitated by the PMC’s apathy for not resolving the drainage problem. He said, “It continued to overflow and the people had given up despite foul smell would emanate from the drainage system.”
Hotelier Shankar Lonkar said, “The municipal corporation cleans up the drainage system at regular intervals, but it again gets clogged. This has affected trade and business in the vicinity. Several customers have stopped visiting the area because there is no place to park vehicles. Water flows everywhere. The local corporator has diverted funds from other projects to replace the pipe on a priority basis.”
The work was closed for 18 days, as the police had said it was triggering traffic snarls. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) received the police’s permission on Wednesday.
A large number of people had come out in the PMC’s support. They wanted the civic administration to speed up the project because the drain water was overflowing in the area for a year.
The PMC inaugurated the project and its contractor dug up the road for replacing the 8inch pipe laid over two decades ago with an 18inch pipe. This was done keeping in mind the increase in population because of rapid urbanisation in Kondhwa and its suburbs.
The police, however, ordered the contractor to stop the work. Their contention was that the work was started without seeking consent and the work was causing traffic congestion during the peak hours.
On visiting the spot, the TOI correspondent found that the drainage was connected to the storm water drain at Bhagyodayanagar Chowk.
PMC corporator Nanda Lonkar told TOI, “The contractor had started the work on the 36m road on an emergency basis, as the drainage pipe got choked and the sewage started overflowing from a manhole outside gate number 2 of Konark Pooram. This was causing much inconvenience for the society residents and people passing by. We tried our best to get the pipe cleaned. but nothing happened.”
Lonkar added, “As soon as the work of replacing the pipe started, it was stopped in the absence of a no objection certificate (NOC) from the traffic police. We took up the matter with the police and got the issue resolved.”
Kondhwa traffic police inspector Chandrakant Nimbalkar said, “We have issued the NOC to the contractor and instructed him to commence the work on the narrow stretch at night and the wider portion during day.”
The officer added, “The contractor has to appoint adequate wardens for manning traffic and barricading the place where the work is in progress. The contractor had used an earth moving elevator for digging the road without informing the police.”
A PMC official said the NOC was not obtained because the situation compelled the civic authorities to start the work on an emergency basis. He said, :The existing pipe had become outdated. Since the police have now issued the NOC, we will complete the project the earliest.”
Konark Pooram chairperson Ayub Parihar said over 5,000 people lived in 800 flats and bungalows in the society. “Our drainage outlet is connected to the main line. which has got choked. We had faced the drainage problem some two years ago. We had then laid a pipe for flushing the drainage water into a nullah on the NIBM Road bypass on the north side of the society, instead of the west side facing the main road. We made several complaints to the PMC to replace the old drainage line. But there was no action.”
Electrical engineer Munawar Tamboli said the society residents were initially agitated by the PMC’s apathy for not resolving the drainage problem. He said, “It continued to overflow and the people had given up despite foul smell would emanate from the drainage system.”
Hotelier Shankar Lonkar said, “The municipal corporation cleans up the drainage system at regular intervals, but it again gets clogged. This has affected trade and business in the vicinity. Several customers have stopped visiting the area because there is no place to park vehicles. Water flows everywhere. The local corporator has diverted funds from other projects to replace the pipe on a priority basis.”
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