2 weeks Ago
Pune: A PMC sanitation department's sewage suction tanker and a motorcycle fell in after a 10ft-deep sinkhole opened in the parking area of the City Post Office at Belbaug Chowk in Budhwar Peth around 3.30pm on Friday. The driver of the jetting machine tanker, used to clean drainage lines, jumped out of the vehicle and escaped unhurt.
Pune municipal corporation (PMC) officials are ascertaining what may have caused the sinkhole to open amid speculation about an underground Metro line near the site. MahaMetro officials, however, have ruled out any likelihood of the underground metro rail causing the sinkhole. Hemant Sonawane, executive director at MahaMetro, said, "The alignment of the Metro's underground tunnel and underground station is away from the place of the mishap.
The work of tunnelling was completed in the area almost two years ago. The alignment of the tunnel is around 60ft below the ground level. We cannot see any direct connection of Metro work with the incident.
Our team is conducting further inspection and checks." A senior post official said the post office was built by the British in 1925. "The Peshwas had laid an underground water pipeline from Katraj Lake to supply drinking water to Peth areas.
The pipeline passes through the city post office but we had never doubted that the parking premises would develop a sinkhole after we called PMC to clean the choked drainage system at the post office. The area place where the sinkhole opened up is used for parking two-wheelers," said the official, requesting anonymity. City fire brigade chief Devendra Pothpode told TOI, "The tanker weighing 20 tonnes reversed and sank into the 10ft sinkhole.
The civic administration pressed into service two cranes of 15 tonnes each to pull out the tanker and the motorcycle belonging to a postman. PMC engineers have inspected the site to identify the cause behind the incident." PMC's road department senior officer Sahebrao Dandge said the property does not come under the purview of the civic department because it is not a public road.
The civic body does not govern it nor does it carry out any maintenance or repair works. The tanker, with sewage suction-cum-jetting machine, had a capacity of 9,000 litres. It was damaged after it fell into the sinkhole, said PMC's vehicle department head Jayant Bhosekar, whose department takes care of the operation and deployment of vehicles for works like cleaning of drainages, said "The machine is used to clean sewer lines by sucking out the dirt, dust, garbage and other impurities directly from the chamber into its vacuum tank," said Bhosekar.
"The machine is also used to clear the blockage or choking of sewer lines by a ‘high capacity jet throw of liquid' that is stored in its fresh water tank. These machines are mounted on the truck. The vehicle department provides the machines as per the demand of the drainage department.
They can be used for public as well as private properties." The deployment of jetting machines is governed according to the nature and the location of the complaint, said Santosh Tandale, superintending engineer of the drainage department. "The department takes care of the complaints of main/big sewage lines.
The responsibility to address complaints at small drainage lines has been given to civic ward offices," said Tandale. Assistant municipal commissioner Suhas Yadav of the Kasba-Vishrambaug civic ward office noted that the spot is on the border of the Bhavani Peth and Kasba ward offices. "Teams from both the ward offices have jointly carried out mitigation works.
Prima facie, it appears that the portion of the parking lot sunk due to unequal settlement. Proper soiling of the premises might not have happened. The roots of nearby trees were also seen spread on the surface of the parking space where the incident took place," Yadav said.
With inputs from Sarang Dastane.
