What’s causing floods in Pune? Check all about number of rivers and dams in the district

Pune: Many parts of the Konkan and Western Maharashtra is witnessing floods due to incessant rainfall. Rainfall in the Pune district is also a major cause of concern as the level of dam water is rising alarmingly. Even though the situation is under control, the administration is on high alert as many dams and rivers only make it vulnerable to flood situations.

Number of rivers and dams in Pune

Pune district has some 19 rivers in total. The longest one is –Bhima River which is 300 km followed by the Nira river (190km) and Ghod river (125km). It is also said that only six out of total 19 rivers stretch less than 50 km before they merge with bigger rivers with most of them coming from Mulshi, Maval, Velhe, Bhor and Purandar tehsil of the district. The rivers, thereafter, pass through Haveli, Indapur, Baramati, Khed, Shirur, Ambegaon tehsils and Pune city among other places.

As for dams, there are a total of 24 of them in different sizes on various rivers in the region. The largest of them all is Ujjani dam with the water storage capacity of 109.98 TMC . Second comes Bhatghar dam with 23.77 TMC water storage capacity and then Mulshi dam with 18.47 TMC.

Flood prone areas

A total number of 84 villages in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad area come under flood prone category alongside 12 different rivers and downstream of 14 dams in the region. 17 villages (maximum) are flood-prone in the area, including 16 in Daund tehsil and one in Indapur tehsil, along with Bhimar river and downstream of Ujjani dam. There are 16 more villages in the region along with others nine in Shirur tehsil and seven in Haveli tehsil, alongside Bhima river are flood-prone regions in that area.

Worst flood-hit areas in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad

Monsoons are particularly bad in Pune city. The administration in Pune city has to take a lot of steps to ensure people’s safety as the water rushes into low-lying localities. The urban areas of the district are the worst flood-hit areas in Pune. The flooding which happens in Mutha river takes down Hingne Khurd, Pulachiwadi in Erandwane, Vithalwadi, Patil Estate in Shivajinagar, Shanti Nagar and Indiranagar slums in Yerwada and Sangamwadi in Pune city as well. The Mula river flooding affects people living in Aundh, Sangvi, Dapodi, Hingangaon, Pimpri, Baner and Chinchwad. And the Pavana river ,passing through Pimpri Chinchwad, affects places like Kasarwadi, Phugewadi, Pimple Saudagar, Pimple Gurav and Sangvi amongst others.

Water discharge from Khadakwasla dam

The closest dam to Pune city is Khadakwasla dam and is in fact the dam’s wall is the new boundary of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The Khadakwasla dam receives water from three dams namely–Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar. The discharge of water from these 3 TMC dams takes place as soon as it fills to its full capacity also sometimes when there is release of water from dams upstream of Mutha river. It takes about three hours for water to reach the Sangam bridge after it has been discharged from Khadakwasla dam.

Other flood-prone areas

Shantinagar, Indiranagar and Sadalbaba Durga area in Yerawada, Kalas, Aundh, Bopodi, Sangamwadi, Mula road slum, Patil Estate in Shivajinagar are areas which gets affected due to flooding of Mula river. There are 12 nallahs in the city and heavy rainfall causes flooding in those nallahs of the city.