Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) evacuates residents from low-lying areas after Khadakwasla released water at rate of 39K cusec

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Wednesday evacuated citizens from various low-lying areas along the Mutha River after the state irrigation department increased the discharge of water from Khadakwasla Dam to the rate of 39,000 cusec.

The teams were deployed in the areas of Ektanagari, Yerawada, Shastrinagar, Warje, and Khilarewadi to move people out. Officials from PMC said that teams deployed at possible flooding locations on Tuesday night will continue to monitor the situation for the next couple of days.

On Wednesday morning, the teams helped residents to move to safer places as precautionary measures. They made constant announcements in the flood-prone areas, appealing to citizens to remain alert and stay away from the river water. Meanwhile, the state irrigation department has said that water release from Khadakwasla will be maintained at a rate of around 39,000 cusec. It will be reduced in case of a drop in rainfall in the catchments of upstream dams.An official from the irrigation department said, "Three upstream dams, including Panshet, Varasgaon, and Temghar, have been releasing water into Khadakwasla since Tuesday. We reduced discharges of water from Panshet and Varasgaon to a rate of 10,000 cusec from an earlier discharge rate of 12,000 cusec. This is because rainfall reduced in the catchments of these dams to some extent. We are closely monitoring rainfall activity in catchments and the inflow of water reservoirs," the official said.