PUNE: The PMC is going to develop an alert system to prevent problems occurring due to flooding of nalas during monsoon. The system is going to be developed with the help of C-DAC. The C-DAC has started the preliminary work and in the first phase, Ambil Odha has been selected as a pilot project.
The PMC has carried out an analysis of monsoon of last 100 years to determine average and maximum rainfall. The stormwater drains and pipelines function only during 60 to 65 mm rainfall. If it rains more than that, the drains and pipelines are blocked. Water from drains and pipelines goes into the nalas. In recent years, it has become clear that the rainfall is more than 65 mm. Hence, it has become necessary to increase the capacity of pipelines and drains. However, since it is a challenging and time consuming task to change the old system, the PMC has decided to develop an alarm system for nalas.
The C-DAC is going to help the PMC to develop the system and it has been claimed that this system will help in reducing the damage caused by the floods and give adequate time to the civic body to tackle the threat. C-DAC has started developing this system on big nalas in the city. For this, the record of rainfall of the last 25 years is being used and a message will be sent to the system about the water level in the nala. The system will measure the amount of water which flows through the nala during monsoon.
In the first phase, the system is going to be developed for Ambil Odha. Due to the alarm system, information about the level of water in the nala will be available and it will be possible to shift residents before the floods. A raingauge and a sensor will be installed to monitor the level of water in the nala.
There are 267 small and big nalas in the city. However, the focus will be on Ambil Odha, Bhairoba Nala and the odha at Manikbaug.
The Chief of Disaster Management Cell, Ganesh Sonune, said, “C-DAC has started the work on the system. A plan has been prepared and it has been shown to officials of the National Disaster Management Authority. After completing some technical formalities, the implementation of the system will be done. Ambil Odha has been finalised in the first phase and later the system will be installed on other big and small nalas.”
