12 JUL 1961 PUNE PANSHET DAM FLOODS

12 July 1961 – Panshet: A day that changed Pune

Posted in Pune by Amit Paranjape on July 10, 2011

12 July 1961 – this fateful day will remain forever etched in Pune’s history. A day that changed the history and geography of this great city. Call it a bad coincidence – but two events that happened almost exactly 200 years apart have played a critical role in Pune’s history – to the extent that they have been added to the local Marathi lexicon. The first one was the 3rd Battle of Panipat in 1761 and the second one: the Panshet flood. “पानिपत झालं” (Panipat zala) and “पानशेत झालं” (Panshet zala) are commonly used terms today to refer to a big disaster.

Half a century ago, the new under-construction Panshet dam had started developing some problems, even before it was complete. Against some recommendations, the dam was being filled up during the 1961 monsoon season. Cracks started developing and yet there was lot of debate on whether the dam was in real imminent danger. Read this technical article for a good engineering summary of what went wrong at Panshet: http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IIT-MADRAS/Hydraulics/pdfs/Unit41/41_2.pdf

A valiant last-ditch effort by the Army Jawans managed to delay the inevitable by a few hours. These few hours helped a lot. If not for this great effort, where thousands of sand bags were deployed, the dam would have burst in the middle of the night, creating havoc for the sleeping residents of Pune. The few hours delay meant that the burst happened early morning and the wall of flood waters reached Pune later in the morning. The deluge of flood waters of Panshet also broke the smaller Khadakwasla dam, further downstream.

Residents started getting some warnings early in the morning and the authorities started moving out the residents living near the riverside. Many residents fled to higher grounds, some all the way to the Parvati Hill. Apparently, All India Radio did not broadcast any warnings, and was playing a regular scheduled music program when the floods struck. The low lying areas of the old city were almost completely submerged. Except for the Bund Garden Bridge, all the bridges were under water as well. Water rushed into the old ‘Peths’ and along Karve Road, Deccan Gymkhana areas. For many hours, the high water levels persisted. Roughly speaking Panshet water reservoir stores enough water for all of Pune’s city needs today (today’s needs are probably 5-10 times more than the 1960s requirements). Imagine all that water being drained out in just a few hours! To give you an idea of the level of the water, just visualize the first floor of Abasaheb Garware College (MES) on Karve Road, nearly completely submerged! Some people and rescue workers were trying navigate Deccan Gymkhana, FC/JM Road areas in small boats.

The water levels finally started falling by late night. The floods completely cutoff the electric and water supply. July 12th was a dark, rainy night in Pune – with rumors still doing the rounds. Some of them pointed to more floods on the way… (even though the dams had been drained empty by then..). When the flood-waters receded, they left behind a trail of destruction and a muddy mess. The cleanup and rebuilding took many months. The old riverside city landscape changed forever. New localities (such as Lokmanya Nagar, Gokhale Nagar, etc.) were setup to resettle some of the flood affected citizens. Most of the bridges were damaged and needed fixing and in some cases complete rebuilding. With Khadakwasla and Panshet dams completely drained, there was no water supply for the city. The Peshwa era Katraj water aqueduct was used to meet some water requirements. Wells were another source. Wadas that had wells had to prominently list ‘Well’ on their main door – so that, the water source could be be made available.

I have found a series of good articles about the Panshet flood disaster, including many firsthand accounts. Some of these links are listed below. I will continue to add more links here. If you come across any good articles, do let me know. Also if you have personal memories from your own experiences, or from your friends & families, please share them here in the comments section.

http://chandrashekhara.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A4-1961/

http://blog.khapre.org/2008/07/blog-post_4677.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panshet_Dam

http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IIT-MADRAS/Hydraulics/pdfs/Unit41/41_2.pdf

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/sakaaltimesbeta/20100711/5533988237134629489.htm

http://www.esakal.com/esakal/20100712/5620114474477528349.htm

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100711/4801146537723084952.htm

http://www.esakal.com/esakal/20110711/5513754521977459281.htm

http://www.esakal.com/esakal/20110712/4755075539072260072.htm

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_scenario-in-deccan-gymkhana-when-flash-floods-inundated-in-pune_1565034

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtNITRk_TzA

Indian Express Headline: July 12, 1961 http://twitpic.com/5owvo0

पानशेत प्रलय आणी मी – मधुकर हेबळे (‘Panshet Pralay Ani Mi’ – Madhukar Heble)

Panshet Dam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Panshet Dam
Panshet Dam
Location of Panshet Dam in India Maharashtra
Official name	Panshet Dam Tanajisagar Dam
Location	Velhe Pune District,Maharashtra, India
Coordinates	18°23′15″N 73°36′46″ECoordinates: 18°23′15″N 73°36′46″E
Opening date	1972
Owner(s)	Government of Maharashtra,India
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earthfill Gravity
Impounds	Ambi river
Height	63.56 m (208.5 ft)
Length	1,039 m (3,409 ft)
Dam volume	4,190 km³ (1,010 cu mi)

Panshet Dam, also called Tanajisagar Dam, is a dam on the Ambi river about 50 km southwest of the city of Pune in western India. The dam was constructed in late 1950s for irrigation and, along with three other dams nearby, Varasgaon, Temghar and Khadakwasla, it supplies drinking water to Pune. Panshet Dam burst in its first year of storing water on 12 July 1961, when the dam wall burst, because of the total absence of mandatory reinforced cement concrete (RCC) strengthening,^[1] causing massive flooding in Pune. An estimated 1000 people died from the resulting flood.^[2]

[hide]

Location[edit]

It is about 50 km from Pune and about 180 km from Mumbai.

Specifications[edit]

The height of the dam above its lowest foundation is 63.56 m (208.5 ft) while the length is 1,039 m (3,409 ft). The volume content is 4,190 km³ (1,010 cu mi) and gross storage capacity is 303,000.00 m³ (10,700,344 cu ft).^[3]

Purpose[edit]

Irrigation
Water supply

Attraction[edit]

Panshet Lake

Panshet is one of the famous picnic spots of Pune and attracts many visitors from Mumbai. The lake is made because of the backwater from the Panshet Dam; from the dam, tourists can see the Sahyadri mountains.

Panshet Water Park

Panshet Water Park is a water sports centre.

Search Results

12 July 1961 – Panshet: A day that changed Pune | Amit Paranjape's ...

https://aparanjape.wordpress.com/.../12-july-1961-panshet-a-day-that-changed-pune/

Jul 10, 2011 - 12 July 1961 - this fateful day will remain forever etched in Pune's history. ... I have found a series of good articles about the Panshet flood ...

52 YEARS AGO - Times of India

epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib...

Jul 12, 2013 - When the Panshet dam burst on July 12, 1961, it changed the way Pune ... dam disaster in 1961 redefined the city's geography, wiped out the modest Pune ... The floods paved the way for a huge land acquisition process (for ...

Panshet Dam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panshet_Dam

Panshet Dam, also called Tanajisagar Dam, is a dam on the Ambi river about 50 km southwest of the city of Pune in western India. ... Panshet Dam burst in its first year of storing water on 12 July 1961, when the dam wall burst, because of ... reinforced cement concrete (RCC) strengthening, causing massive flooding in Pune.

Panshet Dam Breach - YouTube

▶ 8:12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtNITRk_TzA

Jul 11, 2011 - Uploaded by sakaalpapers

12th July, 1961. This day was the nightmare for nearly half the population onPune, Maharashtra, India. This ...

Panshet dam burst: Scenario in Deccan gymkhana, when flash floods ...

www.dnaindia.com/.../report-panshet-dam-burst-scenario-in-deccan-gymkhana-when...

Jul 12, 2011 - The day Pune was struck by flash floods due to the Panshet dam burst on July 12,1961, I was 20 years old and attending classes at Fergusson ...

Pune Panshet dam engineer committed suicide: witness | Latest News ...

www.dnaindia.com/.../report-pune-panshet-dam-engineer-committed-suicide-witness-...

Jul 13, 2011 - Late SM Bhalerao, the then executive engineer of Panshet dam, was so ... of the dam and subsequent flooding in Pune city on July 12, 1961.

In the news

1961 Pune flood: New book documents trials of survivors

The Indian Express‎ - 2 days ago

1961 Pune flood: New book documents trials of survivors ... PanshetPurgrastanchi — which covers the problems the Panshet flood victims faced and the measures taken by ...

More news for pune,panshet floods of 1961

Panshet: A day that changed Pune - Moneylife

www.moneylife.in/article/panshet-a-day-that-changed-pune/26950.html

Jul 12, 2012 - 12 July 1961 – This fateful day will remain etched forever in Pune's history. ... Battle of Panipat in 1761 and the second one—the Panshet flood.

Images for pune,panshet floods of 1961Report images

Image result for pune,panshet floods of 1961

REVEALED: Why Jawaharlal Nehru cried over plight of Pune

daily.bhaskar.com/.../MAH-PUN-panshet-dam-breach-why-jawaharlal-nehru-cried-ov...

Jul 12, 2013 - uly 12, 1961—this fateful day will remain forever etched in Pune's history. ... The deluge of flood waters of Panshet also broke the smaller ...