Pune: Flooding during heavy rains has become an annual crisis for several areas of the city, where residents are now looking at the assembly election as an opportunity to raise their issues. These citizens have pointed out that while state govt has promised them permanent solutions like rehabilitation and construction of separate residential complexes, around five years down the line, the situation has not improved. Now, they want an assurance with a deadline from candidates.
Elaborating on the rehabilitation expectations, Vishal Chavan, a flood-affected resident in the Sinhagad Road area, said, "Citizens want to not face fear of floods now. We want a safe place, where we can live peacefully. It can be made possible by shifting existing residential colonies away from flood-prone zones.
" During the monsoon this year, several houses and residential societies in low-lying areas along the Mutha riverbank, which flows through the city from Khadakwasla dam, as well as those along the Mula-Mutha riverbank in eastern Pune, were left flooded. Authorities had to carry out rescue exercises and evacuate people to safer places. Many of these spots fall under Khadakwasla assembly constituency.
Here, floodwaters had ushed into residential societies in low-lying areas of Ektanagari and Anandnagar along Sinhagad Road and in Warje and Shivane, located close to the Mutha river bank, leaving many residents stranded in their homes amid waist-high waters this year. A similar situation was also rep.
