PMC aims to complete cleaning of stormwater channels, chambers by May 31

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation is planning to complete the crucial pre-monsoon work of cleaning stormwater channels, drains and repair chambers by the end of May.
The administration has said that about 19,000 stormwater chambers out of the total 24,000 have been cleaned so far and the remaining are expected to be cleaned before the arrival of the monsoon.
As per the PMC’s data, the city has about 1,400km-long roads, which are more than six-metre wide. Of these, about 650km-long roads have stormwater drains. The administration has identified stormwater channels on about 200km-long roads, which need to be cleaned before the monsoon to prevent waterlogging. About 165km-long stormwater drains have been cleaned so far, officials said.
Work is also underway in the containment zones with due precaution and permission from the city police. About 300 workers have been deployed for cleaning the drainage and channels. All of them have been issued identity cards and have been told to undergo health checks.
During the last year’s monsoon, many roads witnessed huge flooding which had put a question mark on the quality of pre-monsoon work carried out in the city.
An official said, "The administration has taken two important steps this time. A software has been introduced to monitor cleaning of every chamber and stormwater channel. This software sends real-time updates to the system after cleaning is done at a particular spot. The work progress can be monitored every day. About eight contracts have been issued for eight zones for the cleaning work. A team of 40 engineers, appointed in these eight zones, is monitoring the work through a web-based app."
The civic administration has also introduced changes in the allotment of cleaning work this year. Till last year, the work used to be allotted by the zonal offices. This year, the responsibility of allotment and monitoring of work has been given to the road development department.