Please help us, cries Sunita Dhawar of Whistling Palms Society at Kaspate Vasti near Wakad.
“Water from the river has flooded the road leading to our society. Around 1,000 residents have been stuck in the building since yesterday afternoon. I am nine months pregnant and may need medical attention anytime. The lives of many senior citizens are also at risk. What if they need to go to the hospital?” Dhawar said on Monday.
Fear is the pervading emotion among the 1,000 residents of Whistling Palms, as the road leading to their society has been flooded since Sunday afternoon.
Due to heavy rains for the past two days, the water from the river Mula has flooded a few societies in Kaspate Vasti. “Nisarg Pooja Society, Yashda wedding hall and a crematorium are also flooded,” said Gokul Tilekar, a resident of Vishal Nager.
“We are surviving on noodles and biscuits for two days now. Two of my friends staying with me are stuck outside the society and have no way of coming in. The municipal authorities should immediately to address this situation. There is a supermarket near the compound of our building, but the goods in his shop are almost exhausted,” says Tushar Pawar of Whistling Palms.
An uninterrupted downpour for the second consecutive day in Pune and its surrounding areas wreaked havoc on people in parts of the city. Particularly, residents of-Whistling Palms and Nisargapuja- two housing societies in Wakad, were turned helpless and had no choice but to stay indoors. The situation was no different in Madhuban Society in Sangvi.
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) authorities shifted 478 families along the Mula-Mutha riverbanks in the last two days. Of them, 200 families were from Bopodi area. Other areas included Patil Estate slums (37 families), Adarshnagar (177), Shantinagar (70).
The chief of the flood control cell of the PMC, Pravin Ashtikar, said, “We are being kept on or toes. We are continuously tracking the discharge from all the dams around Pune and taking necessary steps. The fire brigade, too, has been asked to be ready to tackle the situation.”
Ajay Chaudhari of Whistling Palms said, “Our water woes started on Sunday afternoon, when the rainwater logged around our society in huge amounts. Today, I had to skip going to office, as it needed to wade through shoulder-high water. Even if we manage to get out of it, the public transport too, is not reliable.” Amol Govindwar and his wife, both software professionals working in Geometrics and Cognizant respectively, had to take a day off from their work for the same reason.