19 July,2010 09:10 AM IST | | Debarati Palit
Bremen Chowk has a water-logging problem, and as pedestrians avoid walking down the footpath here, shop owners complain they are losing out on business
Bremen Chowk, one of the busiest in the suburbs, connects the posh Aundh locality to Pimpri-Chinchwad. So, on Day One of Week Two of the MiD Day campaign to fix monsoon-related problems, the team decided to survey this chowk. The chowk was inaugurated by Bremen Mayor Dr Henning Scherf to mark the friendship between India and Germany.
During monsoons, owing to water-logging and clogging of canals, pedestrians find it difficult to walk on the road. Thus, shops in and around the area lose customers.u00a0
The ward officers said they have taken care of this problem through regular cleaning.
The MiD DAY team along with PMC Ward officer Jayantkumar Shyamsundar and Sushil Tayade, Junior Engineer, Road, PMC visited the spot and assessed the problems faced by residents and pedestrians and the solutions that were carried out before monsoons.
Survey results and proposed solutions
In front of the shops
Problem: There are a couple of storm canals in and around the shopping complex that houses stationery, medical, clothing, monsoon gear stores and an eye clinic. It also includes a paan and teashop. Shop owners maintain that though storm canals have been built, rainwater accumulates in front of the shops. Even the footpaths are submerged which affects business. The shop owners then have to send their workers to clean the holders on the canals. The holes of these holders are blocked by the garbage thrown by pedestrians. The ward officers on the other hand maintain that they have recently changed the iron holders to cement so they are not stolen.
PMC's promise: Ward officer Jayantkumar Shamsundar and Sushil Tayade, Junior Engineer, Road, PMC recommended that the holders should be cleaned on a weekly basis. Though Shamsundar maintains that the frequency of water logging has reduced.
Canal near the chowk
Problem: The slope next to the fire-brigade office and the broken footpath results in water logging. A favourite spot for traffic police officers, who sit there throughout the day to nab offenders but during monsoon, they shift base closer to the fire brigade office. Water accumulates in this area and during monsoon cars turning towards Aundh splash the dirty water on two-wheelers. The ward office here recently made a small passage from the walls of the canal.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
PMC's promise: Tayade recommended that the size of the temporary hole should be increased and blocks built on the footpath, which would prevent water logging. They also said the pipes built under the canal should be changed and pipes of bigger sizes should be used instead.u00a0
