Pune, 7th July 2026: Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) ₹2 crore Disaster Management Centre has come under scrutiny after failing to provide real-time information on waterlogging and river conditions during the recent spell of heavy rain.
Despite being equipped with modern infrastructure and linked to nearly 1,400 CCTV cameras, the control room relied on police and regional offices for critical updates, exposing significant shortcomings in the city's emergency response system.
The Disaster Management Centre was established with funds sanctioned under the National Disaster Management Authority to strengthen the city's disaster response. It features a large LED video wall, modern workstations and surveillance facilities designed to monitor emergencies across Pune.
However, officials admitted that the centre can only view live CCTV feeds and cannot independently retrieve recorded footage or identify flooded locations in real time.
The weaknesses became evident on Monday when floodwaters entered the riverbed road near Shaniwar Peth, forcing authorities to shut the route. The Disaster Management Centre was reportedly unaware of the development and did not issue any public alert.
Officials learnt about the road closure only after Mayor Manjusha Nagpure informed them during her visit to the control room. Similar monitoring failures were reported at several flood-prone locations, including Pasalkar Chowk on Sinhagad Road, Katraj-Kondhwa Road, Paud Road, Karnataka High School junction and Nagar Road.
Responding to the criticism, Disaster Management Centre head Ganesh Sonune said the civic body currently receives information about waterlogging from regional offices and has already cleared water from 54 locations across the city.
"Information about waterlogging is currently received from regional offices. A new monitoring system that will provide instant alerts whenever water accumulates anywhere in the city will be operational within the next 15 days. While CCTV control remains with the police, we receive the required footage whenever required," Sonune said.
The incident has raised concerns over the effectiveness of the newly established control room, which was expected to improve disaster response through technology and real-time surveillance.
With the monsoon intensifying, the lack of an integrated monitoring system has highlighted the gap between infrastructure investment and on-ground emergency preparedness.
