Pune: Kamla Joseph (70) could not sleep the entire night on Sunday after rainwater gushed into her home on Solapur Road. "I had to sit on the sofa the entire night as there was knee-deep water in the house," she told TOI. "It was not just rainwater, but sewage water also flooded our house.
It was impossible to sit because of the unbearable stink. The Pune cantonment and garrison engineer (South) should look into the issue and address the problem as soon as possible," she said. Six other families too faced a similar situation that night.
They claimed that the Garrison Engineers (GE) had not completed the drainage line work in the last two years. Elizabeth Pereira, a working professional, said, "I have been pursuing the matter with the cantonment board as well as GE authorities for the last three years but in vain. I submitted an application and urged them to complete the drainage work.
But they did not pay any heed to the issue." "Owing to heavy rain on Sunday evening, accumulated rainwater from Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) workshop gushed into our homes, damaging the furniture and other items. We could not do anything as water was constantly coming from ALC Road," she added.
Six houses are on the slope. Water from drainage line and roads flow on the slope. So much so that the approach road has been damaged completely.
"We have had sleepless nights ever since our homes were flooded. The mud and dirt are still in our homes because we cannot clean them until the water recedes. It will take at least two days to clean our homes.
No one from the authority has visited our homes till date," Latika Jadhav, another resident said. Asha Sawant, a housewife whose house is close to the drainage line, said, "I do not feel like eating in the house because of the stink emerging from the drainage line. How can the authorities keep the line open? They told us that it was not drainage water .
They should come to our homes and see it for themselves," said Sawant. Avinash Khade, junior engineer GE (South), told TOI, "We planned to construct a proper RCC drainage line at the site. However, we could not initiate the work due to the rain.
" Khade said that the rainwater comes to the site from Old Command Hospital, ALC, and Wanowarie post office. The residents said that the authorities, including state revenue department, should carry out a spot panchanama to ascertain the loss suffered by them. "We have also approached the revenue officials.
However, they are yet to pay a visit," said Pereira. They have also demanded an inspection by Pune Cantonment Board officials. "They should visit the area and do the needful to prevent waterborne diseases," pointed out another.
