Several parts of Pune were flooded on Thursday after a wall in the right bank of the Mutha canal caved in earlier in the day, PTI reported. The incident led to water gushing into residential localities. Water entered houses along the canal in some areas and some roads were submerged.
The incident affected more than 5,000 residents, reported The Hindu. “The situation is under control now,” a fire department official said. “The flow of water reduced by late noon.”
Rescue teams and fire department officials moved residents to safer places, and the irrigation department stopped the discharge of water from the Khadakwasla dam into the canal. The water released from the Khadakwasla dam flows through the Mutha canal to parts of the Pune district, where it is used for farming and drinking purposes.
The irrigation department is investigating the incident.
The Janata Vasahat locality, the Dandekar bridge and Sinhgad Road areas were among those affected. A part of the Sinhgad Road was inundated. No casualty was reported, but residents claimed their vehicles had been damaged in the flooding. Officials were shifting residents to safer places.
Mayor Mukta Tilak said the Pune Municipal Corporation had warned the irrigation department in the past about the canal wall. “The Pune Municipal Corporation will do everything to provide respite to those afflicted by this incident,” she said, according to The Hindu. “We will make provisions for lodging those residents in temporary homes whose shanties have been destroyed by the discharge. We will make sure they are recompensed.”
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