PUNE: The city has witnessed heavy spells of rain on Wednesday night resulting in the overflowing of Bhairoba nala. Water from Bhairoba nala entered the area of Chimta Vasti, near St Patrick’s School, on Solapur Road and water entered almost 100 houses of the area. Army men conducted the rescue and relief operation and 300 stranded civilians were rescued from houses under water, stranded on either side of the bridges and stuck on roof tops and trees.
The rescued people from Chimta Vasti were rescued and shifted to St Patrick’s School and Shradha Seva and stayed till water receded.
“At around 11 pm, water entered our houses and five two-wheelers and three to four auto-rickshaws were damaged due to water. Army people rescued us and we stayed at Shradha Seva for the entire night and came back around 6 am,” said Amit Adhava, resident of Chimta Vasti.
Lakshama Yerbalam, another resident, said, “At around 11-12 in the night, water entered our houses. Everything in my house is damaged from clothes to my son’s books. We got help from Army as they rescued us in time and later we stayed in St Patrick’s School for the entire night.”
Dr Kiran Mantri, local corporator, said, “At around midnight, I received a call from the residents of Chimta Vasti and they asked for help. I immediately informed Major General Navneet Kumar, President of Cantonment Board who asked the Army to help in rescuing people. We are thankful that we received help from the army and everyone was rescued. I also called the concerned person from Shardha Seva and St Patrick’s School to provide shelter to these people.”
At 12:20 am, Army received SOS call for the requirement for rescue operation from Chimta Vasti. The local district administration was notified, however, no formal requisition was received. On humanitarian grounds, four Relief Teams from local Army units and one Engineer Task Force from Bombay Engineer Group and Centre (BEG&C) comprising 157 Army personnel were mustered and they took part in rescue and relief operations immediately.
Anthony Pereira from the administration department of St Patrick’s School said, “At around 1 am, our head received a call from local corporator Kiran Mantri who asked us to provide shelter to the people from Chimta Vasti. More than 50 people stayed in the hall for the entire night. They stayed till 7:30 am and returned once the water receded.”
