Pune PWD completes the first phase of de-silting work ahead of monsoon season

The department has identified 165 water logging hotspots and five hotspots this year, according to officials.

Gearing up for the rainy season, the Pune Public Works Department (PWD) officials said that it has completed the first phase of de-silting of all the drains across the city. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)

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Gearing up for the rainy season, the Pune Public Works Department (PWD) officials said that it has completed the first phase of de-silting of all the drains across the city.

The department has identified 165 water logging hotspots and five hotspots this year, according to officials.

“The desilting of drains is almost completed and the remaining infrastructure work is underway which will also be completed before the rain starts. Under this de-silting, usually, we get our drains cleaned by the workers. Apart from this, this year we have installed more pumps houses and pumps to manage the waterlogging problem, ” said an official.

The official said that this monsoon preparedness, the department has installed 128 pump houses, which have over 700 pumps, 11 pump houses are fully automatic and start operating automatically as the water level rises, using sensors.

“PWD will also deploy its mobile pump units, if necessary. The central control room will monitor serious waterlogging areas through 24-hour CCTV surveillance,” said officials.

Besides, the department is also installing CCTV cameras, alarms to check the water level, permanent pump sets, 24-hour surveillance and automatic pump houses are some of the key measures prepared by the PWD to prevent waterlogging this monsoon, said officials.

In addition to this, PWD will establish control rooms at 10 other locations where the public can file complaints. PWD has marked 165 areas with waterlogging problems, and preparations are underway to address their needs and tackle waterlogging issues.