08 August,2019 07:28 AM IST | Mumbai | Dharmendra Jore
National Disaster Response Force personnel conduct rescue operations in a flooded area in Sangli, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI
As the state continues to reel under a severe flood crisis, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cut short his statewide Mahajanadesh Yatra and chaired a cabinet meeting to discuss the situation. Apart from issuing routine directives to ensure supply of food, drinking water and other essential items for the flood-affected people in Kolhapur, Sangli, Raigad and Palghar districts, he decided to double monetary relief for the families whose homes have been destroyed. He also coordinated with district officials and the Central government to expedite relief and evacuation measures.
The affected families in rural areas will now get '10,000 and those living in urban areas will get '15,000 as immediate relief. The departments concerned have been asked to inspect and release the relief immediately. Even though the floods have caused great loss of property and agriculture, Fadnavis said not many people had lost their lives. Usually the western part of the state does not get much affected by the floods, but this time the situation is quite different there. Floods have thrown normal life out of gear in Sangli, Kolhapur and Satara districts where 65,000 people were evacuated in the past 24 hours. The situation in Palghar and Raigad districts was grim as 3,000 stranded people had to be moved to safe locations. Addressing a media conference, Fadnavis said the situation was under control due to the undying efforts of the state administration and disaster management agencies, including the three wings of the Armed forces, the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force. The Coast Guard was also rescuing people and offering them relief, he added.
Due to discharge of water from the big reservoirs, the rivers in most of the regions that have a number of dams are overflowing. Even the reservoirs in the neighbouring states are full, but as the water is being discharged, affected regions of the state would soon get relief. The chief minister said the state's water resources department was sharing information on water discharge from dams with the agencies that operate railways and manages road traffic. The Pune-Bengaluru Highway has been shut for over 24 days because of flooding. The south-bound railway traffic has also been halted. The only way to reach to these areas is by air.
Two senior ministers Chandrakant Patil and Girish Mahajan have been sent to Kolhapur to monitor the situation. Fadnavis said he would also visit the affected parts. "I will not go there immediately because my visit will make the system busy and thus hamper relief and rescue operations," he said. Sources said the CM might go there on Thursday as he has suspended the yatra for two days. He is expected to resume the tour in Dhule on August 9, the last day of its first leg.
The elections of chiefs and deputy chiefs of five zilla parishad and panchayat samitis have been postponed by four months. The reasons given were the October Assemby polls and the additional workload that these would bring to the state.
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