Crumbling wada awaits Pune Municipal Corporation sympathy

Despite issuing a notice terming a 70-year-old wada in Somwar Peth as "dangerous", the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has backtracked on its own report and instead suggested repairs to the dilapidated structure.

This has raised the hackles of concerned neighbours, who feel that their lives are in danger.

DNA had reported on October 1 ('Crumbling wada awaits corporator's nod') how the demolition of the wada was stalled on September 29 after the civic administration received a call from PMC standing committee chairman and local corporator, Ganesh Bidkar.

He intervened on the grounds that an elderly couple, Sharad Mali and his wife, residing in the wada had not received the demolition notice and could not be dislodged overnight.

The civic administration had issued orders on September 21 to bring down the structure.

Mali's neighbours, Rushik Gopal Kumbhare, had filed a complaint with the PMC after the second-storey wall of the dilapidated wada crashed into his compound on September 5 at about 4 am. A few years ago, a wall from the third floor of the wada collapsed and Kumbhare fears for the safety of his family living in the adjacent wada.

The torrential rains that hit the city on October 11 have compounded Kumbhares' worries. "There was mud pouring from the structure during the rain, but no one is bothered. Yesterday (October 12), a wada in Ganesh Peth collapsed and six people were trapped in the debris. I shudder to think of what would happen if this weak structure is allowed to stand. Are they (PMC) waiting for a tragedy to take place?" said Kumbhare's son Roopal.

The Kumbhares have received plenty of advice during the past 10 days: to either construct a wall between their wada and the ageing structure, or to pay for repairs of the Malis' wada (since they are old and have no children).

But no PMC official is willing to comment on what will happen if tragedy strikes. PMC Tilak Road ward office executive engineer, Satish Bhosarekar, who according to the Kumbhares visited the site on October 12, refused to talk to DNA about the matter, claiming that he has nothing to do with it.